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FME  BEi!EF  IN  GOD 
AND  IMMORTALITY 

JAMES'  H      LEUBA 


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BERKELEY^ 

LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF 
CALIFORNIA 


^ 


THE  BELIEF  IN  GOD 
AND  IMMORTALITY 

A  Ps-gcholo^ical,  Anthropological 
and  Statistical  Stuci:g 


BY 

JAMES  H.  LEUBA 

Professor  of  Psychology  in   Bryn   Mawr  College 

Author  of  "  A  Psychological  Study  of  Religion ; 

its  Origin,  Function  and  Future." 


a^t^it^^^^ 


CHICAGO— LONDON 
THE  OPEN  COURT  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

1921 


LOAN  STAC^ 


Copyright,  1916 

Copyright,  1921 

Open  Court  Publishing  Co. 


PRINTED    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES   OF    AMERICA 


BD4<ll 


I     ,  ' 


TO 

MY   WIFE 


5^88 


cCormlch  IE  state 
to  Be  Mecca  for  Cult 


Society    Devotee    Takes   Lake   Forest 
Home  for  Psychic  School  Seat. 

Mrs.  Ildilh  Iloc-kcfcHl'^r  McCorniick  is 
to  establish  her  long-planned  school  of 
synllietic  psychology  on  the  famous 
McCormick  estate  in  Lake  Forest,  near 
Chicago. 

Mrs.  McCormick.  who  i 
John  D.  RockefeUer.  has  taken  posses- 
sion of  the  beautiful  Lake  Forest  res- 
idence, which  Avas  given  to  her-  under 
the  terms  of  the  f(^cent  •divorce  from 
f-Tarold  F.  McCormick.  pr'dfident  of  the- 
International  Harvester  Co. 

It  was  learned  that  the  Lake  Forest 
estate  would  soon  be  the  American 
inecca  for  devotees  of  psycho-analysis,  j 
The  n«w  school  of  thought  will  be  based 
on  the  experiments  of  Dr.  Carl  Jung,  the 
noted       Austrian       psychologist.  Mrs. 

McCorniick  is  credited  with  having  col- 
laborated Avith  him  in  evolvirj^' ,  the  doc- 
trine of  synthetic  psychology 'which  she 
will    teach    at    the   school.       .  ' 

'•|'\inctional  distur'bances  of  our  va- 
rious organs  disappear  as  if  by  magic 
once  a  correct  mental  i:»oise  has  been  es- 
tablished,"   she    has    said. 

"But  until  the  psychological  time 
comes  synthetic  psychology  must  appear 
as  an  iceberg  in  the  sea  if  humanity. 
I    will   know    when    the   time   comes." 

Mrs.    McCormick   has   described   herself 
as    a    "surgeon    of    souls."      She    said    her 
Switzerland  cures  w>fcre  accomplished   by 
daily    examination    of    the    dreams    of 
patients. 

tItaN  '^EIVER~    PflOT     DEAD 


N^ 


T 
igai 
tow 
met 


-i^^v, TTnH 


PREFACE  TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION 

God,  the  soul,  and  immortality  constitute,  accord- 
ing to  general  opinion,  the  great  framework  of  re- 
ligion.    In  an  earlier  book  I  have  considered  the 
origin,  the  nature,  the  function,  and  the  future  of 
the  belief  in  what  I  have  called  ''personal''  gods. 
The  present  volume  is,  in  the  main,  a  similar  study 
of  the  belief  in  personal  immortality.    Chapters  one 
to  five  treat  of  the  origin,  the  nature,  and  the  func- 
tion of  that  belief.     They  show  in  particular  that 
two  quite  different  conceptions  of  personal  immor- 
tality have  been  successively  elaborated;  and  that 
the  modern  conception  is  not  a  growth  from  the 
primary  belief,  but  an  independent  creation,  differ- 
ing radically  from  it  in  point  of  origin,  in  nature, 
and  in  function.     Whereas  the  primarj^  belief  was 
forced  upon  men  irrespective  of  their  wishes  as  an 
unavoidable  interpretation  of  certain  patent  facts 
(chiefly,  probably,  the  apparition  of  deceased  per- 
sons in  dreams  and  in  visions),  the  modern  belief 
was  born  of  a  desire  for  the  realization  of  ideals. 
The  first  came  to  point  to  an  exclusively  wretched 
existence,  and  prompted  men  to  guard  aga^'nst  the 
possible  danger  to  them  arising  from  ghosts;  the 
second  contemplated  from  the  first  endless  continua- 
tion in  a  state  of  completed  or  increased  perfection, 
and  incited  the  living  to  ceaseless  efforts  in  order  to 
make  themselves  fit  for  that  blessed  consummation. 

The  effort  that  has  been  made  to  justify  at  the 
bar  of  reason  the  modern  belief  in  immortality  by 

V 


PREFACE    - 

providing  metaphysical  proofs  of  it,  is  considered 
in  chapter  five.  From  a  survey  of  these  "proofs'* 
it  is  evident  that  the  longer  we  strive  to  demonstrate 
its  truth,  the  more  obvious  becomes  our  failure.  We 
shall  see  that  even  firm  believers  in  immortality 
have  had  to  come  to  this  opinion. 

Deductive  reasoning  having  failed,  an  attempt 
is  now  being  made  to  demonstrate  personal  immor- 
tality by  methods  acceptable  to  science.  This  effort 
— mainly  the  work  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Re- 
search —  is  summarily  described  and  appraised  in 
the  last  chapter  of  Part  I. 

It  would  of  course  be  most  helpful,  both  to  scien- 
tific students  of  religion  and  to  ministers  of  it,  did 
there  exist  definite  information  regarding  the  pres- 
ent diffusion  of  cardinal  religious  beliefs  among  the 
civilized  nations.  Heretofore  most  divergent  opin- 
ions have  prevailed ;  and  it  has  been  possible  neither 
to  prove  nor  to  refute  them,  since  the  statistics  of 
belief  so  far  attempted  have  no  actual  statistical 
value  whatever.  In  Part  II,  the  present  status  in  the 
United  States  of  the  beliefs  in  God  and  immortality 
is  shown  as  it  appears  from  extensive  statistical 
inquiries  in  which  the  usual  fatal  defects  of  statisti- 
cal researches  in  the  field  of  religious  beliefs  have 
been  avoided.  These  inquiries  have  yielded  results 
of  considerable  significance;  we  are  now  for  the 
first  time  in  a  position  to  make  certain  definite  state- 
ments, valid  for  entire  groups  of  influential  persons, 
namely,  college  students,  physical  scientists,  biolo- 
gists, historians,  sociologists  and  economists,  and 
psychologists.    We  have  been  able  not  only  to  com- 

vi 


PREFACE 

pare  these  groups  with  each  other  but  also  the  lower 
classes  of  students  with  the  higher,  and  the  more 
eminent  persons  of  the  other  groups  with  the  less 
eminent.  It  appears,  with  incontrovertible  evi- 
dence, that  in  each  one  of  these  groups  the  more  dis- 
tinguished fraction  includes  by  far  the  smaller 
number  of  believers.  This,  taken  in  connection  with 
a  study  of  the  factors  of  belief,  leads  to  important 
conclusions  regarding  the  causes  of  disbelief.  I 
hope  that  despite  the  widespread  and,  I  must  admit, 
on  the  whole  justifiable  distrust  of  statistics  of  be- 
lief, no  reader  will  pass  a  summary  judgment  upon 
mine  until  he  has  examined  them  with  some  care. 

The  numerous  and  extraordinarily  varied  com- 
ments made  by  those  who  answered  the  author's 
questionnaire,  as  well  as  by  those  who  refused  to 
answer  it,  provide  data  of  especial  value  for  the  psy- 
chology of  belief  and  for  an  understanding  of  the 
present  situation  of  the  Christian  religion.  Not  only 
in  Part  II,  but  throughout  the  book,  I  have  cited 
typical,  concrete  instances  in  profusion.  By  thus 
following  a  practice  common  in  descriptive  sciences, 
I  have,  I  trust,  kept  close  to  reality  and  avoided  the 
theoretical  and  empty  character  from  which  so 
many  works  on  religion  suffer. 

In  a  third  and  last  part  are  presented  certain 
facts  and  considerations  bearing  upon  the  utility  of 
the  beliefs  in  a  personal  God  and  in  immortality, 
from  which  it  appears  that,  so  far  at  least  as  the 
United  States  and  other  equally  civilized  countries 
are  concerned,  the  enormous  practical  importance 
customarily    ascribed    to    these    beliefs    does    not 

vii 


PREFACE 

correspond  to  reality.  Since  the  study  of  origins 
and  motives  shows  that  the  attributes  which 
make  gods  and  life  after  death  precious  to  mankind 
are  derived  from  social  experience,  it  is  evident  that 
the  loss  of  these  beliefs  would  involve  the  loss  not  of 
anything  essential,  but  only  of  a  particular  method 
(that  of  the  present  religions)  of  maintaining  and 
increasing  among  men  certain  values  created  and 
discovered  in  social  intercourse.  What  the  real 
losses  would  be,  and  whether  they  might  be  compen- 
sated or  even  turned  to  gain,  constitute  the  chief 
topics  of  the  concluding  section. 

It  is  often  urged  that  studies  of  origins  and  mo- 
tives do  not  yield  information  bearing  upon  the 
probable  truth  of  beliefs.  This  opinion  should  be 
corrected.  When  the  methods  of  philosophy  are  im- 
potent to  determine  '*  truth,"  our  only  recourse  is 
to  a  verification  by  experience,  as  in  the  case  of 
scientific  hypotheses,  and  to  a  study  of  origins  and 
motives.  There  are  circumstances  where  acquaint- 
ance with  the  origin  of  a  belief  bring  down  to  a 
vanishing  point  the  probability  of  its  truth. 

A  word  of  explanation  is  probably  necessary  in 
order  to  prevent  misunderstanding  of  the  scope  of 
this  study.  My  investigation  of  immortality  bears 
upon  "  personal  immortality "  only.  I  take  this 
term  in  its  ordinary  acceptation,  i.  e.,  as  meaning 
a  continuation  after  death  (with  or  without  body) 
of  the  consciousness  of  personal  identity.  Similarly, 
I  am  concerned,  as  in  my  earlier  book,  only  with 
that  conception  of  the  divine  which  I  have  qualified 

viii 


PREFACE 

by  the  term  "  personal."  My  purpose  does  not 
oblige  me  to  define  the  meaning  I  attach  to  that 
difficult  word  when  applied  to  gods,  further  than  to 
say  that  it  designates  beings  with  whom  can  be 
maintained  the  relations  implied  in  all  the  historical 
religions  in  which  a  God  or  gods  are  worshipped, 
i.  e.,  direct  intellectual  and  affective  relations.  A 
personal  God  as  here  understood  is  therefore  not 
necessarily  an  anthropomorphic,  but  certainly  an 
anthropopathic  being. 

Few  words  are  used  in  as  wide  and  ill-defined  a 
meaning  as  "  god,"  for  few  are  willing  to  forego  the 
prestigeous  advantage  belonging  to  its  use;  and  so 
it  has  come  to  pass  that  a  term  owing  its  primary 
meaning  to  its  connection  with  historical  religions 
has  come  to  be  used  in  another  meaning.  The  con- 
ception of  Ultimate  Reality  as  it  is  found  in  the  phi- 
losophy of  Absolute  Idealism,  and  by  it  called  God, 
is  no  more  adequate  to  the  expectations  of  any  ex- 
isting form  of  worship  than  the  alchemist's  con- 
ception of  matter  is  adequate  to  the  work  of  modern 
science.'  The  confusion  of  these  two  meanings 
should  not  be  tolerated,  not  even  though  it  should 
prove  impracticable  to  limit  the  use  of  the  term 
*'  god  "  to  its  original  significance.  That  this  con- 
fusion is  in  fact  tolerated,  and  even,  it  seems,  en- 


^  That  the  gods  of  metaphysics  are  not  the  gods  of  re- 
ligion, is  clearly  acknowledged  by  Arthur  Balfour  in  his  last 
book  (Theism  and  Humanism,  Gifford  Lectures  for  1914, 
page  35,  36).  I  quote:  "It  is  God  according  to  religion, 
and  not  the  God  according  to  metaphysics,  whose  being  I 
wish  to  prove.  .  .  .  When  I  speak  of  God,  I  mean  some- 
thing other  than  an  Identity  wherein  all  differences  vanish, 
or  a  Unity  which  includes  but  does  not  transcend  the  differ- 
ences which  it  somehow  holds  in  solution.     I  mean  a  God 

ix 


PREFACE 

couraged,  is  not  due  only  to  the  lack  of  a  sufRcently 
clear  realization  of  the  essential  difference  existing 
between  the  gods  of  the  historical  religions  and  the 
**  gods  "  of  metaphysics,  but  in  an  equal  measure 
perhaps  to  an  unwillingness  to  admit  an  unwelcome 
truth.  There  are  devoted  Christians  who  appar- 
ently prefer  living  in  intellectual  dishonesty  to  rec- 
ognizing that  the  God  whom  they  worship  has  no 
existence  in  their  philosophy. 

It  hardly  need  be  said  here  that  the  abandonment 
of  the  belief  in  a  personal  God  and  in  personal  im- 
mortality, though  it  involved  the  disappearance  of 
the  existing  religions,  need  not  bring  to  an  end  re- 
ligious life.  Religion  is  not  to  be  identified  with  its 
present  forms.  The  faith  of  the  ancient  Hebrews, 
which  looked  only  to  the  continuation  of  the  nation, 
refutes  sufficiently  the  opinion  according  to  which 
the  immortal  individual  soul  is  a  tenet  necessary  to 
all  religions.  While  original  Buddhism,  which  de- 
nies the  existence  of  a  personal  God,  and  Comte's 
Religion  of  Humanity,  which  includes  among  its 
articles  of  faith  neither  personal  God  nor  soul, 
demonstrate  the  possible  independence  of  religion 
from  the  belief  in  a  personal  God.  The  sources  of 
religious  life,  its  fundamental  realities,  lie  deeper 


v/hom  men  can  love,  a  God  to  whom  men  can  pray,  who  takes 
sides,  who  has  purposes  and  preferences,  whose  attributes, 
however  conceived,  leave  unimpaired  the  possibility  of  a  per- 
sonal relation  between  Himself  and  those  whom  He  has  cre- 
ated." 

For  a  demonstration  of  the  correctness  of  this  distinction, 
see  chapter  XI,  especially  pages  245  to  254,  of  my  earlier 
book,  A  Psychological  Study  of  Religion;  Its  Origin,  Function 
and  Future. — Macmillan,  1912. 

X 


PREFACE 

than  the  conceptional  forms  in  which  they  find  ex- 
pression. 

To  regard  this  book  as  merely  destructive  because 
it  offers  no  sufficient  ground  for  belief  in  immor- 
tality, and  because  the  statistics  presented  demon- 
strate an  alienation  from  beliefs  present  in  all  the 
historical  religions    (Comtism  and  original  Buddh- 
ism excepted)  and  provide  reasons  for  anticipating 
a  continuous  decrease  of  these  beliefs,  would  be  to 
overlook  its  essential  results,  namely,  the  analysis 
both  of  the  fundamental  motives  and  of  the  sec- 
ondary causes  which  have  led  to  the  formation  of 
the  primary^  belief  in  immortality,  to  its  subsequent 
displacement  by  the  modern  belief,   and  which  at 
the  present  time  prompt  many  of  those  most  sensi- 
tive to  moral  values  to  seek  elsewhere  than  in  the 
continuation  of  the  identity  of  the  Ego  the  satisfac- 
tion  of   spiritual   needs.      To   uncover   the   deeper 
sources  from  which  spring  the  varied  forms  of  our 
religious  life,  even  when  this  involves  laying  bare 
the  uncertainty  or  inadequacy  of  old  and  widely  ac- 
cepted convictions,  cannot  with  justice  be  character- 
ized as  a  merely  destructive  performance.     Rather 
should  it  be  regarded,  from  a  practical  point  of  view, 
as  tending  to  accomplish  a  threefold  good:  the  de- 
liverance of  man  from  a  devitalizing  fear  of  imagi- 
nary disastrous  consequences  that  are  to  attend  the 
loss  of  these  beliefs;  his  inspiration  with  renewed 
confidence  in  the  reliability  of  the  forces  by  which 
he  feels  himself  urged  onward,  however  ignorant  of 
their  nature  he  may  otherwise  be;  and  his  enrich- 

xi 


PREFACE 

ment  with  information  useful  for  the  wise  guidance 
of  his  efforts  at  reconstructions  when  reconstruction 
shall  have  appeared  imperative. 

Parts  II  and  III  may  be  read  independently  of 
Part  I,  but  the  full  weight  of  the  investigation  will 
not  be  felt  by  those  who  have  omitted  the  first  part. 

I  take  pleasure  in  acknowledging  here  the  valu- 
able assistance  received  from  Miss  Edith  Orlady  in 
the  preparation  of  this  book. 


Xll 


PREFACE  TO  THE  SECOND  EDITION 

The  first  edition  of  this  book,  published  in  1916 
by  Sherman,  French  &  Co.,  was  exhausted  in  the 
course  of  a  little  more  than  a  year.  That  firm  hav- 
ing gone  out  of  business,  the  Open  Court  Pub- 
lishing Company  have  undertaken  the  publication 
of  the  new  edition.  The  book  remains  practically 
what  it  was;  the  changes  that  have  been  made  are 
few  and  none  of  them  of  much  importance. 

H:  ^  ^  ^  Ht  »K  ^ 

My  main  purpose  in  writing  this  second  preface 
is  to  remove  two  misunderstandings.  It  seems, 
however,  worth  while  to  append  brief  notes  upon  the 
reception  given  to  this  book,  for  they  indicate  with 
some  precision  how  far  we  are  from  having  achieved 
the  degree  of  intellectual  freedom  on  which  we  com- 
monly pride  ourselves.  Even  among  men  devoted  to 
the  advancement  of  science,  the  weight  of  tradition 
remains  a  powerful  hindrance  to  the  quest  and  the 
diffusion  of  religious  knowledge. 

H<  H:  H:  4:  ^  :(<  % 

The  first  of  the  misunderstandings  to  which  I 
have  alluded,  arose  about  the  main  generalization 
of  Part  I.  I  attempted  there  to  demonstrate  that, 
leaving  the  Hindoo  world  out  of  reckoning,  there 
are  two  conceptions  of  survival  after  death  that 
differ  radically  from  each  other  both  with  regard 
to  their  origin  and  their  function.  The  older — the 
Primary — is  apparently  universal  among  non-civil- 
ized societies;  the  other — the  Modern — took  shape 

xiii 


PREFACE 

when  and  where  the  Primary  belief  was  dying  out, 
It  was  dying  out  at  the  beginning  of  the  historical 
period  among  the  nations  established  around  the 
eastern  end  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea. 

The  motives  that  led  to  the  appearance  of  the 
Primary  Conception  of  survival  are  experiences 
having  for  the  savage  the  validity  of  ordinary  sense 
perception ;  he  sees,  hears,  and  "  feels  *'  the  presence 
of  ghosts.  His  belief  in  them  is  not,  therefore,  the 
product  of  aversion  to  annihilation  and  of  yearn- 
ings for  moral  self-realization;  that  man  survives 
as  a  ghost  is  a  fact  accepted  by  him  on  the  same 
kind  of  ground  as  the  existence  of  natural  objects. 
Quite  otherwise  was  it  with  the  origin  of  the  Mod- 
ern Conception;  it  had  to  be  won  out  of  the  depths 
of  man's  moral  experience;  it  is  a  child  of  craving 
for  rationality,  for  justice,  and  for  happiness. 

Neither  the  reality  nor  the  importance  of  this 
distinction  between  a  Primary  and  a  Modern  Con- 
ception of  continuation  after  death  has  been  de- 
nied; but  some  of  my  critics  were  of  the  opinion 
that  I  have  emphasized  unduly  the  difference  when 
I  have  described  it  as  *'  radical  ".  According  to 
them,  I  have  not  given  sufficient  recognition  to  cer- 
tain motives  for  belief  that  are  common  to  the  two 
forms ;  for  instance,  the  desires  for  the  continuation 
of  a  sympathetic  relation  with  the  departed  and  for 
one's  own  happiness  in  the  future  life.  These  critics 
have  forgotten,  it  seems,  that  under  the  heading 
"  The  tife  of  Ghosts  and  Their  Relation  to  the  Liv- 
ing; the  Primary  Paradise  "  (pp.  15-24,  especially  20 

xiv 


PREFACE 

ff),  I  have  described  and  illustrated,  briefly  it  is 
true  but  quite  definitely,  the  presence  among  some 
savages  of  these  very  motives,  i.  e.,  of  motives  of  the 
Kmd  to  which  the  Modern  belief  owes  its  origin.  I 
did  not  affirm  that  these  two  classes  of  motives — 
pseudo-perceptions  or  deductions  from  observed 
facts  and  moral  yearnings — had  never  been  present 
together  so  as  to  produce  a  composite  conception. 
On  the  contrary,  I  drew  attention  to  the  paradisiacal 
elements  in  certain  primitive  beliefs  in  the  here- 
after. But  I  insisted  that  these  two  kinds  of  motives 
are  entirely  different  in  nature,  that  they  need  not 
be  present  together,  and  that  as  a  matter  of  fact  the 
Primary  motives  gave  to  the  early  conception  its 
dominant  character. 

I  had  also  to  take  into  account  an  historical  fact 
of  great  significance,  namely,  the  final  form  assumed 
by  the  early  belief  in  survival  after  death  among  the 
nations  from  which  the  western  world  has  derived 
its  civilization,  i.  e.,  the  nations  situated  around  the 
eastern  end  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  Egypt,  Baby- 
lonia, Palestine,  and  Greece.  At  the  beginning  of 
the  historical  period,  before  the  Modern  Conception 
had  taken  shape,  the  hereafter  was  pictured  among 
these  nations  as  the  abode  of  inactive,  ineffective, 
and  unhappy  shades.  With  them,  the  living  main- 
tained no  sympathetic  relation  whatsoever;  dread 
or  repugnance  only  was  felt  by  the  living  for  the 
fate  in  store  for  them.  There  is,  thus,  incontroverti- 
ble evidence  that  in  so  far  as  the  countries  in  which 
the  Modern  Conception  arose  are  concerned,  the 
influence  of  desire  upon  the  idea  of  the  hereafter, 

XV 


PREFACE 

apparent  here  and  there  among  savages,  was  finally 
eliminated ;  and  that  the  conception  of  the  future  life 
became  the  expression  exclusively  of  what  I  have 
called  the  Primary  motives.  It  does  not  therefore 
seem  an  exaggeration  to  describe  as  "  radical "  the 
difference  in  origin  and  in  function  existing  between 
the  repulsive  and  depressing  Primary  belief  and  the 
glorious  and  inspiring  Modern  belief. 

******* 

The  second  explanation  I  wish  to  make  refers  to 
the  statements  of  belief  in  God  and  immortality 
us£d  in  preparing  the  statistics.  If  these  statements 
brought  out  the  facts  which  they  were  intended  to 
bring  out,  they  must  be  regarded  as  adequate.  That 
they  did  not  bring  out  other  facts  is  irrelevant, 
however  important  these  other  facts  might  be.  I  did 
not  want  to  find  out  what  proportion  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  several  classes  selected  for  investigation 
(American  physical  scientists,  biological  scientists, 
historians,  sociologists,  psychologists,  and  college 
students  of  non-technical  departments)  believed  in 
the  Absolute  of  Bradley  or  in  that  of  Royce,  or  in 
Bergson's  Elan  Vital,  or  in  RashdalPs  limited  God, 
or  in  any  other  of  the  God-conceptions  known  to 
philosophers.  Had  I  entertained  that  purpose,  I 
should  have  failed;  for,  probably  not  one  in  a  hun- 
dred of  the  men  belonging  to  the  classes  named 
would  have  been  in  a  position  to  answer  the  finely 
discriminating  questions  that  would  have  been  nec- 
essary. My  purpose  had  reference  not  to  philosophy 
but  to  religion  as  it  actually  exists  among  us  in  its 
organized  forms;  i.  e.,  I  desired  to  determine  with 

xvi 


PREFACE 

some  degree  of  accuracy  the  percentages  of  believ- 
ers and  of  non-believers  (disbelievers  and  doubters) 
in  personal  immortality  and  in  a  God  able  and,  under 
certain  undetermined  conditions,  willing  to  act  upon 
man  or  nature  or  both,  at  man's  desire,  request, 
or  in  accordance  with  his  desert. 

H:  *****  * 

The  profound  significance  to  the  existing  religions 
of  the  statistical  inquiry  reported  in  Part  II  of  this 
book  needs  no  demonstration.  Christian  worship, 
in  all  its  varieties,  the  Unitarian  not  excepted,  im- 
plies the  direct,  intellectual  and  affective  communi- 
cation of  man  with  God,  in  the  definite  form  which 
communication  takes  between  man  and  man :  i.  e., 
an  exchange  of  ideas  and  feelings  and  an  expression 
of  desires  and  intentions  accompanied  by  the  con- 
viction that  God  may  grant  request  or  desire, 
whether  it  be  a  change  of  weather,  a  cure  of  disease, 
or  a  deliverance  from  moral  evil.  Abandonment  of 
that  direct  personal  relation  would  so  materially 
transform  the  existing  religions  as  to  make  them 
unrecognizable.  It  would  usher  in  a  new  epoch  in 
the  religious  history  of  mankind.  If  this  be  true, 
the  statistics  point  indeed  to  things  momentous. 

What  form  religion  can  take  when  this  personal 
relation  with  God  is  given  up,  is  not  one  of  the  prob- 
lems I  set  myself  to  answer.  Some  hints  may  be 
found,  however,  in  my  earlier  volume  and  in  Part 
III  of  the  present  one.  An  increasing  number  of 
religious  leaders,  writing  from  what  they  regard  as 
the  '*  Christian  ''  point  of  view,  are  as  a  matter  of 
fact  endeavoring  to  formulate  a  religion  in  which 

xvii 


PREFACE 

the  traditional  Christian  God  is  exchanged  for  a 
God-belief  in  agreement  with  present  knowledge. 
The  practices  of  minimizing  differences,  accentuat- 
ing agreements,  and  of  pouring  new  wine  into  old 
bottles — practices  that  have  always  been  approved 
as  strategically  valuable — leaves  the  average  church 
attendant  unaware  of  the  distance  to  which  these 
leaders  have  really  strayed  from  established  creeds 
and  worship.  It  is  not  apparent  that  the  leaders 
themselves  realize  their  position.  Because  their 
new  view  leaves  standing  the  Christian  virtues,  they 
speak  as  if  no  essential  change  had  taken  place  in 
their  religion  and  as  if  none  need  take  place  in  their 
worship !  Such  a  person  is  a  Unitarian  minister  who 
declared,  in  a  published  address  inspired  by  these 
statistics,  that  "  the  popular  conception  of  '  direct ' 
answer  to  prayer  "  is  '*  no  test  of  the  Christian  faith 
of  the  present  day  '*.  He  may  be  right  in  that 
affirmation ;  many  make  it.  But  then,  why  continue 
the  use  of  prayer  books  and  hymnologies,  every  line 
of  which  implies  the  "  popular  conception  "  ? 

Professor  James  B.  Pratt  does  not  misrepresent 
Professor  Ames  in  writing,  *'  I  fear  the  religious 
reader  of  The  Psychology  of  Religious  Experience  ' 
will  find  cold  comfort  after  all  when  he  learns  that 
the  only  God  who  exists  is  just  human  society's 
longings  and  ideals  and  values,  and  that  He  cannot 
even  viean  anything  more  than  that  '\  '  For  Pro- 
fessor Ames,  religion  is  "  the  consciousness  of  the 

'  A  book  by  Professor  Edward  Scribner  Ames. 
"  The  Religious  Consciousness,  p.  208. 

xviii 


PREFACE 

highest  social  values ".  Social-mindedness  is  re- 
ligious mindedness.  "  All  moral  ideals  are  relig- 
ious in  the  degree  in  which  they  are  expressions  of 
great  vital  interests  of  society."  ''  It  would  be  no 
exaggeration  to  say  that  all  ceremonies  in  which 
the  whole  group  co-operates  with  keen  emotional 
interests  are  religious."  '  To  use  '*  religion "  in 
that  way  is  to  transform  its  meaning  beyond  all 
recognition. 

Professor  Pratt's  own  opinion  may  be  gathered 
from  these  words,  '*  Objective  worship  of  the  sort 
that  aims  to  please  the  Deity  is  a  thing  of  the  past. 
The  modern  man  cannot  even  attempt  to  participate 
in  it  without  conscious  hypocrisy."  Nevertheless, 
according  to  him,  objective  worship  remains  pos- 
sible in  the  form  of  ''  reverence,  combined  perhaps 
with  consecration  and  a  suggestion  of  communion, 
which  most  thoughtful  men  must  feel  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Cosmic  forces  and  in  reflecting  upon 
them.  Such  was  the  attitude  of  Spinoza  and  Her- 
bert Spencer."  '  Is  reverence  for  the  Cosmic  forces 
the  emotional  attitude  that  inspired  the  creeds  and 
the  prayer  books?  Did  Spinoza  and  Spencer  find  it 
possible  to  join  in  the  accepted  Christian  public 
worship?  We  are  here  far  away  from  Christian 
worship. 

Other  distinguished  writers  on  the  psychology"  of 
religion,  unwilling  to  do  away  with  traditional 
prayer,  say  in  substance,  "  God  acts  through  His 


'  Edward  Scribner  Ames,  the  Psychology  of  Religions  Ex- 
perience, pp.  10,  285-287,  72. 

*  The  Religious  Consciousness ,  1920.    Page  308. 

xix 


PREFACE 

laws.  Man's  own  natural  response  to  his  prayer  is 
God's  way  of  answering  him  " — which  means  that 
the  natural  effect  of  one's  belief  upon  one's  thoughts 
and  emotions  is  God's  answer.  Thus  understood, 
the  result  of  prayer  can  be  said  to  be  a  "divine  an- 
swer "  only  at  the  risk  of  utter  confusion. 


The  word  "  reconstruction "  is  on  the  lips  of 
everybody.  A  primary  condition  of  religious  recon- 
struction is  a  sufficiently  widespread  realization  that 
the  crumbling  religious  structures  in  which  we  are 
still  dwelling  have  ceased  to  keep  us  spiritually 
warm:  Those  who  are  acquainted  with  the  social 
sciences  realize  that  the  disbelief  of  the  present,  re- 
garding the  central  assumption  of  the  organized 
religions  (a  God  in  direct  relation  with  man),  is  of 
a  different  temper  from  the  disbelief  of  the  past. 
It  has  gained  the  quality  belonging  to  things  firmly 
established,  the  quality  which  attaches,  for  instance, 
to  the  doctrine  of  evolution  since  Darwin's  labors. 

Another  condition  of  effective  religious  recon- 
struction is  a  widespread  establishment  of  the  con- 
viction that  belief  in  the  traditional  God  is  not  a 
primary  source  of  spiritual  worth  and  moral  in- 
spiration, but  that  moral  values  come  into  existence 
in  social  relationship,  as  a  natural  and  unavoidable 
consequence  of  the  nature  of  man. 

These  conditions  once  realized,  the  way  would  be 
prepared  for  the  acceptance  of  a  conception  of  the 

XX 


PREFACE 

divine  that  would  not  be  opposed  to  the  teachings  of 
modern  science.' 

Bryn  Mawr,  Pa.,  May,  1921. 


^  Frequent  wrong  inferences  makes  it  advisable  to  say 
here  that  if  disbelief  in  a  God  in  direct  intellectual  and  af- 
fective communication  with  man  is  widespread  and  prob- 
ably rapidly  increasing,  it  does  not  follow  that  the  dis- 
believers have  turned  to  materialistic  philosophies.  On  the 
contrary,  many  if  not  most  of  them  have  exchanged  the 
traditional  God  for  forms  of  spiritual  belief  possessing  a 
higher  ethical  significance. 


XXI 


NOTES    UPON   THE    RECEPTION    GIVEN   TO 
THE  FIRST  EDITION  OF  THIS  BOOK 

In  the  Roman  Catholic  press  no  attempt  what- 
ever was  made  at  a  serious  criticism  of  the  book. 
The  statistics  (Part  II)  were  in  many  instances  ac- 
cepted uncritically  at  their  face  value,  usually  with 
ill-concealed  gratification  at  the  demonstration  they 
were  held  to  provide  of  the  "  godlessness  "  of  non- 
Catholic  education.  A  certain  American  Cardinal, 
for  example,  found  these  statistics  useful  as  a  goad 
to  urge  his  flock  to  a  more  zealous  support  of 
parochial  schools.  In  other  instances,  sweeping  and 
unsupported  denials  were  made  of  the  validity  of 
the  statistics.  "  True  scientists  ''  doggedly  affirmed 
an  influencial  Roman  Catholic  weekly,  "  are  be- 
lievers " — this  in  the  face  of  the  statement  of  over 
half  the  men  listed  in  "American  Men  of  Science  " 
that  they  are  disbelievers  or  non-believers  in  God, 
as  defined  for  the  purpose  of  the  investigation! 

The  attitude  of  the  less  important  protestant  re- 
ligious reviews  was  only  one  degree  less  careless  of 
the  facts  in  the  case:  that  which  agreed  with  their 
beliefs,  they  approved;  and,  that  which  disagreed 
they  condemned.  Strikingly  different  in  temper 
were  the  critical  notices  of  the  more  technical 
protestant  theological  journals.  The  liberalism  and 
the  scientific  spirit  of,  for  instance,  the  American 
Journal  of  Theology  and  the  Harvard  Theological 
Review,  make  a  striking  contrast  with  the  dogmatic 

xxii 


NOTES 

medievalism  of  many  of  the  lesser  journals.  It  looks 
as  if  the  leaders  had  so  far  outstripped  the  rank 
and  file  as  to  have  lost  contact  with  them. 

It  is  deserving  of  notice  that  certain  influential 
secular  reviews,  devoting  considerable  space  to  re- 
ligion, either  maintained  complete  silence  about  the 
book  or  merely  announced  its  appearance,  this  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  lengthy  notices  in  the  daily 
press  indicate  that  at  least  the  Statistical  Part  pos- 
sesses considerable  interest  for  the  average  reader. 
But  if  this  silence  is  distressing  in  popular  maga- 
zines, it  is  still  more  so  when  it  is  maintained  by 
exclusively  scientific  journals.  Science,  for  instance, 
failed  to  review  the  book  and  refused  a  brief  ac- 
count of  the  statistics  prepared  by  the  author,  al- 
though the  editor  acknowledged  that  the  results 
were  of  much  interest  and  scientific  in  character, 
and  that  his  own  attitude  in  refusing  to  print  the 
report  was  "  not  scientific.''  If  a  scientific  investi- 
gation which  has  attracted  widespread  attention  and 
which  directly  concerns  American  men  of  science  is 
not  to  be  considered  in  the  oflflcial  journal  of  the 
allied  sciences,  where  is  it  to  be  discussed?  Is  there, 
even  among  men  of  science  so  little  dispassionate- 
ness with  regard  to  religious  beliefs  that  they  can- 
not be  trusted  to  treat  scientifically  a  scientific  in- 
vestigation bearing  upon  religious  questions? 


xxiu 


CONTENTS 

PART  I 

THE  TWO  CONCEPTIONS  OF  IMMORTALITY : 
THEIR  ORIGINS,  THEIR  DIFFERENT  CHAR- 
ACTERISTICS, AND  THE  ATTEMPTED  DEM- 
ONSTRATION OF  THE  TRUTH  OF  THE  MOD- 
ERN CONCEPTION 

I  THE  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  PRIMARY 
BELIEF  IN  CONTINUATION  AFTER 
DEATH 1 

When  did  the  belief  in  primary  continuation 
appear?  —  The  savage's  idea  of  soul  and  ghost 
—  The  survival  after  death  and  immortality  — 
The  life  of  ghosts  and  their  relation  with  the 
living;  the  primary  paradise  —  Explanation 
of  the  fear  of  ghosts  and  of  the  e\'il  character 
usually  ascribed  to  them  —  Conditions  of  ad- 
mission to  the  other  world  and  the  relation  of 
morality  to  continuation  after  death  —  Mor- 
ality and  religion. 

II  THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  GHOST-IDEA,  AND 
THE  DIFFERENTIATION  OF  THE  GHOST 
FROM    THE    SOUL 44 

I.  The  origin  of  the  ghost-idea  —  Memory- 
images  exteriorized  under  the  influence  of  emo- 
tion —  The  "  sense  of  presence  "  —  Dreams  — 
Visions  —  The  natural  endlessness  of  man  — 
The  influence  of  death  —  Vegetation  and  insect 
metamorphosis  —  The  waxing  and  the  waning 
moon ;  the  rising  and  the  setting  sun  —  Physi- 
cal and  moral  likenesses  between  a  living  and 
a  dead  person  —  Reflections  and  echoes  —  The 
instinct  theory  of  the  origin  of  the  belief  in 
continuation  —  II.  The  differentiation  of  the 
ghost  from  the  soul  —  III.  The  origin  of  the 
soul  as  set  forth  by  Durkheim  in  his  theory  of 
the  origin  of  the  idea  of  the  soul-ghost  — 
Crawley's  and  Feuerbach's  theories. 

XXV 


CONTENTS 

III  THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  IN  CONTINUATION 

AFTER  DEATH  AT  THE   BEGINNING  OF 
THE    HISTORICAL   PERIOD 83 

1.  The  belief  in  immortality  is  said  to  have 
appeared  late  — 11.  The  chief  characteristics 
of  the  primary  belief  at  the  beginning  of  the 
historical  period,  in  the  countries  bordering  the 
eastern  end  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea. 

IV  THE    ORIGIN    OF    THE    MODERN    CONCEP- 

TION OF   IMMORTALITY 101 

I.  Translation  to  a  land  of  immortality  — 
II.  The  Messianic  prophecies  —  III.  The  rec- 
ognition of  the  insufficiency  of  national  hopes, 
the  consequent  establishment  of  individual  re- 
lations with  the  gods,  and  the  dawn  of  the 
modern  belief  in  personal  immortality  —  IV. 
Greek  sources  of  immortality.  Ecstasy  —  V. 
The  absence  of  continuity  between  the  primary 
and  the  modern  belief  in  immortality. 


V  THE  DEDUCTIVE  DEMONSTRATION  OF 

MODERN  IMMORTALITY 129 

I.  The  metaphysical  arguments  —  Argu- 
ments from  the  spiritual  nature  of  all  reality, 
from  the  simplicity  of  the  soul,  from  an  intelli- 
gent non-moral,  and  from  an  intelligent  and 
moral  First  Cause  —  II.  The  acknowledged 
insufficiency  of  the  deductive  arguments  and 
the  falling  back  upon  direct  "  inner  experi- 
ence "  of  immortality. 

VI  THE  DEMONSTRATION  OF  MODERN  IM- 
MORTALITY BY  DIRECT  SENSORY  EVI- 
DENCE AND  SCIENTIFIC  INDUCTION      .   156 

I.  Physical  manifestations  —  II.  Psychical 
manifestations  —  III.  The  resurrection  of 
Christ. 

xxvi 


CONTENTS 

PART  II 

STATISTICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  BELIEF  IN  A 
PERSONAL  GOD  AND  IN  PERSONAL  IM- 
MORTALITY IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

INTRODUCTION         172 

CRITICAL  REMARKS  UPON  RECENT 
SYMPOSIA  AND  STATISTICAL  INVESTI- 
GATIONS        177 

VII     INVESTIGATION  A:     THE  BELIEF  IN  GOD 

AMONG  AMERICAL  COLLEGE  STUDENTS  184 

I.  Typical  answers,  in  extenso  — 11.  The 
personal  or  impersonal  nature  of  God  —  III. 
The  form,  or  image,  or  symbol  under  which 
God  is  conceived  —  IV.    God's  relation  to  man. 

VIII     INVESTIGATION   B:      THE   BELIEF  IN  IM- 
MORTALITY IN  AN  AMERICAN  COLLEGE  213 

A  statistical  inquiry,  including  a  compari- 
son of  the  changes  in  belief  taking  place  dur- 
ing college  years. 

IX  INVESTIGATION  C:  THE  BELIEF  IN  GOD 
AND  IN  IMMORTALITY  AMONG  AMERI- 
CAN SCIENTISTS,  SOCIOLOGISTS,  HIS- 
TORIANS, AND  PSYCHOLOGISTS     ...  219 

A  statistical  inquiry,  including  in  each  group 
a  comparison  of  the  less  with  the  more  emi- 
nent men  —  I.  The  causes  of  the  failure  to 
answer  and  the  interpretation  of  the  ques- 
tionnaire —  II.  The  scientists  —  III.  The  his- 
torians —  IV.  The  sociologists  —  V.  The  psy- 
chologists —  VI.  The  philosophers  —  VII.  Com- 
parison of  the  signed  with  the  unsigned  an- 
swers, and  of  the  answers  to  the  first  with  the 
answers  to  the  second  requests  —  VIII.  Sum- 
mary and  conclusions  from  the  statistics. 

xxvii 


CONTENTS 

INDIVIDUALISM  AS  A  CAUSE  OF  THE  RE- 
JECTION   OF   TRADITIONAL   BELIEFS     .   281 


PART  III 

OF  THE  PRESENT  UTILITY  OF  THE  BELIEFS 
IN  PERSONAL  IMMORTALITY  AND  IN  A 
PERSONAL  GOD 

INTRODUCTORY 290 

XI     THE  DESIRE  FOR  IMMORTALITY  AND  THE 

USEFULNESS    OF    THE    BELIEF      ...   294 

The  dislike  for  immortality — Indifference  to 
immortality  —  Immortality  as  a  morally  in- 
ferior belief  —  Present  causes  of  the  desire  for 
immortality. 

XII  THE  SOCIAL  ORIGIN  OF  MORAL  IDEAS 
AND  INSPIRATION  AND  THE  UTILITY 
OF  TRANSCENDENTAL  BELIEFS    ...   319 

INDEX    OF    NAMES 33J 


XXVlll 


PART  I 

THE  TWO  CONCEPTIONS  OF  IMMORTALITY 
THEIR     ORIGINS,     THEIR     DIFFERENT 
CHARACTERISTICS     AND     THE    AT- 
TEMPTED   DEMONSTRATION   OF 
THE  TRUTH   OF  THE  MOD- 
ERN    CONCEPTION. 


CHAPTER  I 

THE   CHARACTERISTICS   OF   THE   PRIMARY 

BELIEF    IN    CONTINUATION 

AFTER   DEATH^ 

"  It  might  be  hard  to  point  to  a  single  tribe  of 
men,  however  savage,  of  whom  one  could  say  with 
certainty  that  the  faith  is  totally  wanting  among 
them  " :  thus  writes  Frazer'  of  the  belief  in  survival 
after  death;  and  most  other  competent  anthropolo- 
gists affirm  with  less  caution  the  presence  of  that 
belief  in  every  tribe,  however  primitive.' 

This  universal  belief  of  the  non-civilized  in  con- 
tinuation after  death  is  commonly  regarded  as  es- 
sentially similar  to  the  modern  belief  in  immortality ; 
yet  we  shall  find  it  to  be  so  different  from  the 
former,  that  it  would  be  nearer  the  truth  to 
maintain  that,  save  for  the  idea  of  continuation,  the 
two  beliefs  have  little  in  common.  We  shall  see, 
further,  that  the  savage  is  convinced  of  immortality 
by  facts  rejected  in  toto  by  the  civilized  Christian, 
and  that  the  latter  desires  immortality  for  reasons 


^  In  this  chapter  I  shall  use  "  continuation  "  and  "  survi- 
val "  interchangeably  with  "  immortality."  When  one  deals 
with  the  beliefs  of  the  savage  and  of  the  average  civilized 
man,  immortality  is  the  less  exact  of  these  terms. 

'J.  G.  Frazer:  The  Belief  in  Immortality:  London;  Mac- 
millan;  1913.  Pages  25,  33.  This  volume  is  a  valuable  com- 
pilation of  beliefs  concerning  immortality  among  the  abo- 
rigines of  Australia,  the  Torres  Straits  Islands,  New  Guinea, 
and  Melanesia. 

■  Following  the  present  custom,  I  shall  use  the  term 
"  primitive  "  to  designate,  as  the  case  may  be,  the  lowest 
populations  now  extant  or  the  hypothetical  original  man. 


2  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

unknown  to  the  savage.  The  history  of  the  idea  of 
continuation  after  death  falls,  therefore,  into  two 
great  historical  periods  between  which  there  is  little 
if  any  continuity  of  a  vital  character.  The  first 
we  shall  call  the  period  of  the  primary,  or  ghost 
belief. 

WHEN  DID  THE  BELIEF  IN  PRIMARY 
CONTINUATION  APPEAR? 

The  demonstration  of  the  existence  in  every  living 
tribe  of  the  primary  belief  would  not,  however,  be 
equivalent  to  a  proof  of  its  coexistence  with  human 
life.  Was  there  not  a  social  stage  earlier  than  the 
one  represented  by  the  present  "  primative  "  man, 
in  which  the  idea  of  the  surviving  soul  had  not  yet 
appeared?  One  might  argue  with  great  plausibility 
that  the  grim  fact  of  death  must  have  been,  at  first, 
conclusive  of  the  finality  of  earthly  existence.  Men, 
animals,  and  plants  drop  and  decay ;  the  human  body 
not  only  becomes  inert  but  falls  to  pieces  and  dis- 
solves. That  ever  recurring  direct,  sensory  demon- 
stration of  finality  must,  it  seems,  have  overcome 
any  adverse  promptings  coming  from  the  instinct  of 
self-preservation  and  from  any  existing  sense  of  per- 
manency. 

One  might  turn  to  archeology  for  a  solution  of 
this  problem.  From  that  science,  if  from  any,  must 
come  the  knowledge  we  seek.  I  need  hardly  say  that, 
for  the  present,  archeology  is  far  from  having  fully 
discovered  the  material  conditions  of  life  and  still 
less  the  social  customs  and  beliefs  of  the  early  popu- 
lations, the  existence  of  which  it  has  revealed. 

Not  a  trace  of  reliable  information  has  been 
found  as  to  the  existence  of  man  during  the  Tertiary 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  3 

age.  The  skeletal  remains  (pithecanthropus  erec- 
tus)  discovered  by  Dr.  Dubois  at  Trinil,  on  the 
island  of  Java  in  a  pliocene  formation,  are  not  suffi- 
cient to  permit  an  assured  classification.  They  may 
be  part  of  a  man,  or  of  an  anthropoid  ape  now  ex- 
tinct. Of  the  presence  of  man  during  the  earlier 
Quarternary  age,  v^e  possess  indications  quite  in- 
sufficient to  permit  conclusions  concerning  the 
meaning  of  certain  burial  customs. 

The  middle  and  later  Quaternary  (this  includes 
the  ''  reindeer  period ")  are  the  earliest  periods 
about  which  archeology  has  provided  reliable  infor- 
mation. Three  prehistoric  races  (the  race  of  Nean- 
derthal or  of  Spy,  that  of  Cro-Magnon  or  of  Lang- 
erie,  and  the  Negroid  race)  and  some  of  their  funer- 
ary customs  have  been  discovered.  A  large  part  of 
this  information  comes  from  the  caves  of  Grimaldi,' 
situated  near  the  Principality  of  Monaco.  A  few 
words  concerning  the  finds  made  in  one  of  these 
caves,  the  Grotte  des  Enfants,  will  serve  our  pur- 
pose. In  this  cave  stood  ten  meters  of  deposit  ar- 
ranged in  nine  superposed  dwelling  levels.  The 
inferior  layers  contained  remains  of  reindeer.  The 
deposits  extended,  therefore,  throughout  the  second 
half  of  the  Quaternary  age.  Several  skeletons 
were  found  at  different  levels.  One  of  the  sepul- 
tures, at  a  depth  of  7m.  50,  known  as  sepulture  num- 
ber four,  contained  skeletons  of  an  old  woman  and 
of  an  adolescent.     The  young  man  carried  on  the 


*  See  Tome  I,  pages  289-299,  of  J.  Dechelette's  Manuel 
d'Archeologie  Prehistorique  Celtique  et  Gallo-Roviatne : 
Paris;  Picard  et  Fils;  1908-1914.  The  two  tomes  are  pub- 
lished in  four  volumes  and  two  appendices. 


4  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

forehead  a  wreath  of  four  rows  of  perforated  shells. 
The  left  arm  of  the  woman  was  decorated  with  two 
bracelets  made  of  the  same  shells.  A  few  flint 
blades  seemed  to  have  been  placed  on  the  bodies 
or  by  their  sides  at  the  time  of  burial.' 

In  another  Grimaldi  cave  was  found  the  famous 
Homme  cle  Menton.  About  the  skull  were  more 
than  2000  perforated  shells,  which  probably  formed 
a  head  decoration,  and  twenty-two  canines  of  deer, 
also  perforated.  These  objects  and  certain  bones  of 
the  skeleton  were  colored. 

The  age  of  these  Quaternary  races  is  immaterial 
to  us;  v/hat  we  wish  to  know^  is  the  degree  of  de- 
velopment attained  by  them,  how  far  removed  they 
were  from  what  may  be  considered  the  really  primi- 
tive man.  The  only  answer  we  can  make  to  that 
question  is  that  they  belong  to  the  *'  rough  stone '' 
age;  that  is,  to  a  time  when  metals  and  pottery" 
were  unknown.  The  only  implements  used  were  of 
stone,  chiefly  flint;  of  bones;  and  of  wood.  These 
populations  were,  therefore,  presumably  at  a  stage 
of  culture  somewhat  inferior  to  that  of  the  most 
primitive  contemporary  savages. 

We  may  thus  take  it  for  established  that  the  tribes 
of  the  stone  age  buried  their  dead,  or  some  of  them, 
in  protected  places ;  and  that  together  with  the  body 
they  interred  ornaments  and  a  few  useful  imple- 
ments, chiefly  flint  blades.  The  skull  and  bones  of 
the  face  were  often  colored  with  ocres.    Stones  were 


'  Dechelette,  Loc.   cit.     Vol.   I,  page   294. 
"  Some  very  simple  pieces  of  pottery,  apparently  belonging 
to  the  Quaternary  age,  have  been  found  in  Belgium. 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  5 

sometimes  placed  under  the  head  and  about  the  body, 
as  for  protection. 

Must  these  funerary  customs  be  taken  to  imply 
a  belief  in  survival  after  death?  No,  not  neces- 
sarily. It  is  conceivable  that  even  in  the  absence 
of  a  belief  in  an  after-life,  bodies  should  have  been 
buried  in  this  fashion.  There  are  feelings,  natural 
even  to  the  savage,  which  might  have  led  to  these 
practices.  The  appreciation  of  faithfulness,  dig- 
nity, and  power  are  surely  traits  belonging  in  some 
measure  to  men  of  the  lowest  societies  known  to  us. 
Who  would  deny  to  any  being,  really  belonging  to 
the  human  species,  an  aversion  for  casting  to  the 
dogs  the  body  of  a  person  liked  and  respected?  A 
propensity,  quite  independent  of  a  belief  in  souls,  to 
take  some  care  of  at  least  some  corpses,  at  some  time 
or  other,  must,  it  seems,  be  conceded.  And,  how 
better  can  respect  and  affection  be  shown  than  by 
burying  the  person  with  the  things  which  in  this  life 
he  needed  most  and  valued  above  all  others,  the 
things  which  he  had  used  and  worn  and  which  had 
become,  in  a  sense,  a  part  of  his  personality? 

No  more  can  the  presence  of  certain  pictures  on 
the  walls  of  Quaternary  caves,  and  a  curious  custom 
which  I  shall  describe  presently,  be  regarded  as  dem- 
onstrating the  existence  of  the  survival-idea  among 
these  Troglodytes.  From  the  position  of  these  pic- 
tures in  high  places  and  in  dark  recesses,  as  well  as 
for  other  reasons,  Salomon  Reinach  concluded  that 
they  were  not  intended  as  decorations.  He  assimi- 
lated them  to  the  pictures  of  present  day  savages  by 
which  they  magically  insure  the  multiplication  or 


6  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

the  capture  of  the  animals  pictured.  The  principle 
tacitly  recognized  in  this  widely  distributed  kind  of 
magic  is  that  the  picture  or,  in  other  instances,  the 
name  or  the  gesture-imitation  of  a  thing  gives  con- 
trol over  that  thing.  The  magical  function  of  these 
wall  pictures  is  rendered  the  more  probable  by  the 
fact  that  they  include  only  desirable  animals;  no 
carnivora  are  found  among  them.' 

The  curious  practice  to  which  I  have  referred  con- 
sisted in  cutting  out  of  the  skull  of  living  or  of  dead 
persons  pieces  to  be  worn  in  the  manner  of  amulets 
or  other  magical  objects.  A  single  explorer,  Pru- 
niere,  has  gathered  in  Lozere  no  less  than  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-six  perforated  skulls  and  forty-one 
pieces  taken  from  them.  It  seems  that  trepanation 
on  the  dead  was  performed  in  preference  upon  skulls 
that  had  already  been  trepanned  in  life,  perhaps,  as 
Broca  suggested,  because  these  persons  were  invested 
with  a  holy  character.  These  pieces  of  bone,  perfo- 
rated at  each  end,  were  no  doubt  sacred  objects,  con- 
ferring upon  the  wearer  powers  and  immunities.' 

Some  authorities  hold  that  the  operation  was  per- 
formed in  order  to  let  out  a  spirit  who  caused  the 
death.  The  modern  Kabyles  have  been  known  to 
perform  trepanning  for  exorcising  purposes. 

Both  this  custom  and  the  animal  paintings  are 
consistent  with  the  absence  of  the  idea  of  survival. 


^  UAnthropologie;  1903;  pages  257-266;  and  more  fully  in 
Cultes,  Mythes  et  Religions:  Leroux;  Paris;  1905-1906;  Vol. 
I,  pages  125-136. 

See  in  my  book,  A  Psychological  Study  of  Religion,  the  dis- 
cussion of  magic  and  religion. 

'  Dechelette,  Loc  cit.,  pages  474-482. 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  7 

They  may  be  explained  as  an  expression  of  belief  in 
the  existence  of  an  impersonal  force,  a  mana,  resid- 
ing in  the  person  or  animal,  a  part  of  which  is 
supposed  to  be  secured  or  controlled  by  the  posses- 
sion of  a  bit  of  the  skull  of  the  deceased,  or  by  a  rep- 
resentation of  the  animal. 

But  if  the  presence  of  burial  is  not  necessarily  a 
proof  of  the  presence  of  the  continuation-idea,  no 
more  is  the  absence  of  burial  a  proof  of  the  absence 
of  that  conception.  We  know,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
of  savages  who  merely  throw  their  dead  into  the 
brush,  and  who,  nevertheless,  believe  in  survival 
after  death. 

THE  SAVAGE'S  IDEA  OF  SOUL  AND  GHOST 

The  words  ''  soul  "  and  ''  ghost  "  are  used  synony- 
mously in  anthropological  literature,  as  if  they  rep- 
resented one  and  the  same  conception.  We  shall  in 
the  rest  of  this  chapter  conform  to  this  usage,  al- 
though, in  the  next,  we  shall  be  led  to  ascribe  a  dif- 
ferent meaning  to  these  words. 

Most,  perhaps  all,  savages  believe  in  a  plurality 
of  souls.  Each  man  may  possess  two  or  even  a 
much  higher  number  of  souls.  This  belief  is  found 
among  populations  as  primitive  as  those  of  Aus- 
tralia. Ross  reports  that  among  the  tribes  of  the 
Pennefather  river  it  is  believed  that  each  man  has 
two  souls;  one  called  ngoi,  resides  in  the  heart;  the 
other,  choi,  dwells  in  the  placenta.'  On  the  western 
coast  of  Africa,  there  is  a  belief  in  the  ki^a  which 


*  E.   Durkheim:  Les  Formes  Elementaires  de  la  Vie  Re- 
ligieuse;  Paris;  Alcan;  1912.     Pages  368,  369. 


8  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

exists  before  the  birth  of  the  man  to  whom  it  belongs, 
and  will  continue  after  his  death.  The  kra  can  ab- 
sent itself  from  the  living  body  and  return  to  it  at 
will.  This  happens  usually  in  sleep,  but  it  may  also 
occur  during  waking,  in  which  case  the  departure  of 
the  kra  is  indicated  merely  by  a  yawn.  These  same 
people  believe  also  in  the  srahman,  a  soul  that  begins 
its  career  only  at  death  of  its  possessor. 

Remarkable  exceptions  to  the  ascription  of  a  soul 
or  souls,  to  every  individual  are  recorded :  among  the 
Gnanji,  for  instance,  the  women  are  thought  to  have 
no  soul."  This  is  probably  a  belief  of  late  origin, 
expressive  of  contempt  for  that  sex. 

The  word  '*  soul  "  assumes  among  savages  a  sur- 
prising variety  of  meanings,  none  of  which  is  exactly 
that  of  the  educated  Christian.  Even  in  primitive 
Australia,  the  conception  of  the  soul  is  far  from 
simple.  The  descriptions  given  of  it  by  the  aborigi- 
nes seems  in  many  respects  amazingly  contradictory. 
It  is,  of  course,  a  material  substance ;  for  the  savage 
does  not  know  of  spirit-existence  independently  of 
material  bodies.  Ghosts  are  usually  invisible;  only 
certain  persons,  for  instance,  old  men  or  members 
of  a  superior  race,  can  see  them.  Africans  have 
been  known  to  ask  a  white  traveler  to  catch  a 
troublesome  ghost  for  them. 

The  soul  is  variously  described  as  small,  like  a 
grain  of  sand,  or  of  any  size  up  to  that  of  a  giant. 
Its  shape  is  said  to  be  round,  featureless,  or  quite 
similar  to  that  of  the  living  person  to  whom  it  be- 

^^  Spencer  and  Gillen:  Northern  Tribes  of  Central  Aus- 
tralia; pages  179,  546. 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  9 

longed,  or  of  any  other  conceivable  appearance.  It 
can  pass  through  the  smallest  hole  and  crack,  either 
because  it  partakes  of  the  nature  of  the  wind,  or  be- 
cause of  its  smallness.  It  is,  nevertheless,  commonly 
represented  also  as  eating,  sleeping,  and  performing 
most,  or  all,  of  the  functions  characteristic  of  this 
life. 

The  relation  of  the  soul  to  the  body  also  evinces 
great  varieties.  During  the  life  of  the  body,  the 
soul  is  variously  thought  to  be  diffused  throughout 
the  body,  or  to  be  especially  connected  with  the 
blood,  or  the  breath,  the  heart,  the  liver,  or  some 
other  organ.  Its  connection  with  the  body  involves 
growth  and  decay ;  on  leaving  the  body,  the  souls  of 
the  young  and  vigorous  are  also  young  and  vigor- 
ous, and  the  souls  of  the  aged  and  infirm  also  old  and 
infirm.  We  shall  see  that  this  belief,  when  it  is  con- 
sistently held,  leads  to  curious  and  cruel  customs. 
For  some,  the  bodily  shadow  is  the  soul ;  for  others, 
the  reflection  of  oneself  seen  in  water,  or  elsewhere, 
is  the  soul.  It  may  be  supposed  that  some  regard 
both  shadow  and  reflection  as  the  soul.  Not  infre- 
quently the  breath  is  said  to  be  the  soul. 

The  soul  can  temporarily  leave  the  living  body. 
This  happens  particularly  during  sleep  and  other 
temporary  loses  of  consciousness,  such  as  swoons. 
According  to  many  tribes,  the  soul  remains  con- 
nected with  the  corpse  until  complete  decomposition 
has  taken  place.  When  the  bones  have  become 
clean,  the  soul  is  held  to  have  become  completely 
free.  Until  then  it  had  remained  at  or  near  the 
place  of  burial,  now  it  can  move  to  the  land  of 


10  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

spirits.  It  may,  however,  return  to  the  living  when- 
ever it  pleases  or  only  on  special  occasions.  This 
liberation  of  the  soul  from  the  dead  body  is  such 
an  important  event  in  the  history  of  the  soul  that 
henceforth  it  bears  a  new  name:  it  has  become  a 
spirit. 

It  would  be  unreasonable  to  expect  the  savage  to 
entertain  only  those  ideas  of  the  soul  which  are  en- 
tirely consistent  with  each  other.  Primitive  minds  do 
not  perceive  contradictions  obvious  to  a  modern, 
trained  mind.  The  savage  frequently  uses  as  a 
means  of  gratifying  his  desires,  unembarrassed  by 
logical  requirements,  his  ill-determined  notion  of  a 
som.ething  vitalizing  the  body  and  of  a  some- 
thing continuing  to  live  after  its  death.  In  or- 
der that  the  soul  may  escape,  the  Hottentots  and 
other  populations,  for  instance,  make  a  hole  in  the 
wall  of  the  hut  in  which  a  person  has  just  died. 
They  then  plug  that  hole  and  imagine  that  they  have 
protected  themselves  against  the  return  of  the  soul 
within  the  hut ;  for,  they  say,  the  ghost  will  not  look 
for  or  not  be  able  to  find  the  other  openings.  In 
other  circumstances,  however,  the  same  tribe  as- 
cribes to  ghosts  capacities  which  should,  it  seems, 
make  the  procedure  just  described  ridiculous  to  the 
savage  himself.  We  are  here  in  the  presence  of  a 
sort  of  unconscious  deception  practiced  upon  him- 
self by  the  Hottentot  in  order  to  allay  his  fear  of 
ghosts.'' 


''  The  mental  trick  illustrated  above  is  not  peculiar  to  the 
savage;  it  is,  on  the  contrary,  extremely  common  and  pre- 
cious to  the  civilized.  One  needs  only  listen  for  a  while  to  a 
discussion,  especially  when  it  takes  place  between  persons  of 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  11 

But  these  contradictions  are  not  all  real.  Some 
of  them  are  the  result  of  our  failure  to  recognize 
that  the  savage  has  in  mind  at  times  the  seed  of  life 
that  enters  the  woman  and  produces  a  child ;  and,  at 
other  times,  the  ghost  that  continues  after  the  death 
of  the  body.  In  the  next  chapter  we  give  reasons  for 
holding  that  the  savage  makes  that  distinction  and 
thus  is,  in  many  cases,  not  open  to  the  accusation  of 
contradiction  and  inconsistency  of  which  he  seems 
guilty  when  that  distinction  is  ignored. 

THE  SURVIVAL  AFTER  DEATH  AND  IMMORTALITY 
Survival  after  death  is  not  equivalent  to  im- 
mortality. Everywhere,  even  among  the  Austral- 
ians, there  are  tribes  which  admit  the  final  annihila- 
tion of  some  souls  or  classes  of  souls.  At  the  same 
time  they  set  no  limit  to  the  continuation  of  other 
souls.  Among  some  tribes,  the  souls  of  the  departed 
after  having  returned  several  times  from  the  island 
of  the  dead  to  live  in  their  former  families  in  order 
to  perform  various  kindly  functions,  are  finally  de- 
stroyed by  a  thunderbolt.  The  Tougans  think  that 
only  the  souls  of  noblemen  are  saved,  that  the  others 


little  culture,  to  become  aware  of  the  presence  of  bare-faced 
subterfuges  and  of  obviously  illogical  arguments  by  which 
each  speaker  seeks  to  protect  his  interests,  or  his  pride.  It  is 
chiefly  by  this  method  that  men,  whatever  the  level  of  cul- 
ture to  which  they  belong,  succeed  in  preserving  a  flattering 
opinion  of  themselves.  To  say  that  the  contestants  are 
altogether  aware  of  the  defect  of  their  arguments,  would  not 
always  represent  correctly  their  state  of  consciousness.  But 
the  vague  sense  of  unrightness  of  which  they  may  be  cogni- 
zant is  impotent  before  the  will  to  self-assertion,  which  is  the 
dominant  factor  in  most  discussion.  This  class  of  mental 
processes  cannot  be  adequately  understood  without  reference 
to  the  psychology  of  the  so-called  subconscious  mental  ac- 
tivity. 


12  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

perish  with  their  bodies.  In  one  of  the  Solomon 
Islands,  the  ghosts  of  no  account  survive  death  only 
for  a  time.  "  All  ghosts  upon  leaving  the  body- 
swim  ...  to  two  islands  lying  off  Marau  in  Gua- 
dalcanar.  The  children  chatter  and  annoy  the  elder 
ghosts,  so  they  are  placed  apart  upon  the  second 
island;  men  and  women  ghosts  are  together,  they 
have  houses,  gardens,  and  canoes,  yet  all  is  unsub- 
stantial. Living  men  cross  to  Marapa  and  see  noth- 
ing; but  there  is  water  there  in  which  laughter  and 
cries  are  heard ;  there  are  places  where  water  is  seen 
to  have  been  disturbed,  and  the  banks  are  wet  as  if 
bathers  had  been  there.  .  .  .  This  ghostly  life  is  not 
eternal.  The  mere  akalo  (the  ghosts  of  ordinary 
people)  soon  turn  into  white  ants'  nests,  which  be- 
come the  food  of  the  still  vigorous  ghosts;  hence  a 
living  man  says  to  his  idle  son,  'When  I  die,  I  shall 
have  ants'  nests  to  eat,  but  then  what  will  you 
have?'  "  '' 

Of  the  Fijian  we  read,  "  On  the  whole,  when  we 
survey  the  many  perils  which  beset  the  way  to  the 
Fijian  heaven,  and  the  many  risks  which  the  souls  of 
the  dead  ran  of  dying  the  second  death  in  the  other 
world  or  of  being  knocked  on  the  head  by  the  living 
in  this,  we  shall  probably  agree  with  the  missionary 
Mr.  Williams  in  concluding  that  under  the  old  Fijian 
dispensation  there  were  few  indeed  that  were 
saved."^' 


'"  R.  H.  Codrington;  The  Melanesians;  Oxford;  1891.  Page 
260.  Ghosts  are  sometimes  cooked  and  eaten  up  by  some 
giant  ghost. 

"Frazer:  Loc.  cit.,  page  467. 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  13 

To  be  a  chief  or  a  shaman  is  in  some  tribes  of 
North  America  the  condition  of  access  to  the  other 
world.  In  others,  the  old  and  the  sick  have  little 
chance  of  standing  the  hardships  of  the  journey;  in 
still  others,  fire  is  thought  to  be  fatal  to  souls. 

If,  as  I  have  already  reported,  souls  age  with  the 
body,  the  process  of  aging  should  go  on  in  the  other 
world  and  end  with  the  death  of  the  soul.  Never- 
theless, most  savages  seem  to  assume  that  souls  do 
not  age  when  once  detached  from  the  body.  It 
would  be,  I  surmise,  more  exact  to  say  that  usually 
they  neither  affirm  nor  deny  the  soul's  independence 
of  the  effect  of  time ;  they  simply  do  not  think  of  the 
question.  '* 

The  belief  that  in  this  life  souls  share  the  for- 
tunes of  the  body,  leads  to  practices  most  revolting 
to  us.  Some  Australians,  for  instance,  put  their 
relatives  to  death  before  they  are  old  in  order  that 
they  may  not  be  too  feeble  to  care  for  themselves 
in  the  other  world.    I  find  in  Frazer  the  following 


'*  This  failure  of  the  savage  to  take  into  consideration  the 
effect  of  time  upon  persons  who  are  supposed  to  be  in  most 
respects  like  himself  is  not  surprising  when  we  recall  our 
own  imagery  of  those  from  whom  we  have  been  long  sepa- 
rated. They  continue  present  to  our  memory  with  the  phys- 
ical appearance  that  was  familiar  to  us.  It  is  only  when  we 
expect  a  person  to  return  to  us  that  we  may  make  an  effort 
to  picture  him  under  the  changed  appearance  which  years 
have  probably  worked. 

For  the  rest,  the  savage  might  perfectly  well  think  that 
men  do  not  age  in  the  other  world  and  yet  place  no  limit  to 
the  process.  The  fact  that  even  death  by  old  age  is  often 
looked  upon  as  maleficent  sorcery  shows  how  far  removed 
these  men  are  from  connecting  signs  of  age  v/ith  the  neces- 
sity of  death.  Among  the  Monumbo  of  German  New  Guinea, 
souls  grow  old  and  die,  but  they  are  not  annihilated,  for  they 
are  changed  into  animals  and  plants.  Frazer:  Loc.  cit.; 
page  229. 


14  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

account  of  how  a  son  lovingly  strangled  his  aged 
mother.  Strangling  was  considered  '*  a  more  deli- 
cate and  affectionate  way  "  of  dispatching  relatives 
than  to  knock  them  on  the  head  with  a  club. 

On  one  occasion,  the  missionary,  Mr.  Hunt,  "  was 
called  upon  by  a  young  man,  who  desired  that  he 
would  pray  to  his  spirit  for  his  mother,  who  was 
dead.  Mr.  Hunt  was  at  first  in  hopes  that  this 
would  afford  him  an  opportunity  of  forwarding  their 
great  cause.  On  inquiry,  the  young  man  told  him 
that  his  brothers  and  himself  were  just  going  to 
bury  her.  Mr.  Hunt  accompanied  the  young  man, 
telling  him  he  would  follow  in  the  procession,  and 
do  as  he  desired  him,  supposing  of  course,  the  corpse 
would  be  brought  along;  but  he  now  met  the  proces- 
sion, when  the  young  man  said  that  this  was  the 
funeral,  and  pointed  out  his  mother,  who  was  walk- 
ing along  with  them,  as  gay  and  lively  as  any  of 
those  present,  and  apparently  as  much  pleased.  Mr. 
Hunt  expressed  his  surprise  to  the  young  man,  and 
asked  him  how  he  could  deceive  him  so  much  by  say- 
ing his  mother  was  dead,  when  she  was  alive  and 
well.  He  said,  in  reply,  that  they  had  made  her 
death-feast,  and  were  now  going  to  bury  her;  that 
she  was  old;  that  his  brother  and  himself  had 
thought  she  had  lived  long  enough,  and  it  was  time 
to  bury  her,  to  which  she  had  willingly  assented,  and 
they  were  about  it  now.  He  had  come  to  Mr.  Hunt 
to  ask  his  prayers,  as  they  did  those  of  the  priest. 
He  added,  that  it  was  from  love  for  his  mother  that 
he  had  done  so;  that,  in  consequence  of  the  same 
love,  they  were  now  going  to  bury  her,  and  that  none 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  15 

but  themselves  could  or  ought  to  do  so  sacred^  an 
office !  Mr.  Hunt  did  all  in  his  power  to  prevent  so 
diabolical  an  act ;  but  the  only  reply  he  received  v^as, 
that  she  was  their  mother,  and  they  were  her  chil- 
drn,  and  they  ought  to  put  her  to  death.  On  reach- 
ing the  grave,  the  mother  sat  down,  when  they  all, 
including  children,  grandchildren,  relations  and 
friends,  took  an  affectionate  leave  of  her;  a  rope, 
made  of  twisted  tapa  (bark-cloth)  was  then  passed 
twice  around  her  neck  by  her  sons,  who  took  hold  of 
it  and  strangled  her;  after  which  she  was  put  into 
her  grave  with  the  usual  ceremonies.  They  returned 
to  feast  and  mourn,  after  which  she  was  entirely  for- 
gotten as  though  she  had  not  existed."  '" 

These  remarks  and  quotations  will  suffice  to  make 
it  clear  that  survival  is  not  equivalent  to  immortal- 
ity: some  souls  may  continue  endlessly;  it  is  in  the 
nature  of  others  to  come  to  a  ''  natural  "  end  after 
a  certain  lapse  of  time ;  these  may,  moreover,  be  de- 
stroyed accidentally.  In  this,  as  in  other  important 
respects,  the  primary  continuation  belief  is  not  to  be 
assimilated  with  the  modern  immortality  of  the  soul. 

THE  LIFE  OF  GHOSTS  AND  THEIR  RELATION  WITH 
THE  LIVING;  THE  PRIMARY  PARADISE 
The  more  deeply  one  inquires  into  the  customs 
and  beliefs  of  the  savage,  the  more  one  is  amazed  at 
their  almost  endless  variety.  It  is  evident  that 
under  the  incentive  of  certain  needs  and  desires, 
imagination  had  for  a  long  time  been  elaborating  in 
every  thinkable  shape  a  few  fundamental  notions. 
With  regard  to  the  nature  and  the  fate  of  the  soul, 


Frazer:  Loc.  cit.;  pages  423,  424. 


16  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

th^  more  important  conceptions  of  the  savage  pro- 
ceed essentially  from  a  desire  to  explain  certain 
events  and  to  define  his  relation  to  the  ghosts.  A 
knowledge  of  these  relations  is  of  paramount  im- 
portance to  the  savage.  His  many  other  ideas  con- 
cerning the  dead  have  no  deep  roots ;  they  are  to  be 
regarded  as  chiefly  a  play  of  the  fancy,  so  that  they 
belong  to  myth  rather  than  to  religion. 

The  separation  which  death  makes  between  the 
living  and  the  departed  is  much  less  radical  than  is 
commonly  imagined.  The  dead,  it  is  true,  usually 
live  in  another  country,  but  their  world  differs  but 
little  from  that  of  the  living,  and  they  continue  mem- 
bers of  the  social  group  to  which  they  belonged  when 
in  the  body.  As  the  individual  was  in  this  life,  so 
is  he  usually  in  the  other:  either  strong  or  weak, 
courageous  or  cowardly,  clever  or  stupid,  rich  or 
poor,  young  or  old,  healthy  or  sickly,  happy  or  un- 
happy. The  kings  remain  kings,  and  the  slaves, 
slaves.  Ghosts  and  spirits  can  be  spoken  to,  heard, 
seen.  Miss  Kingsley  relates  how  she  heard  a  negro 
speaking  aloud  to  his  dead  mother,  just  as  if  she 
were  beside  him.  Death  makes  a  difference  not  much 
greater  than  results  from  initiation  when  a  child 
becomes  a  full  member  of  the  social  group.  "' 

It  is  essential  to  an  understanding  of  the  relation 
of  the  living  with  their  dead  that  the  two  periods 
frequently  recognized  in  the  fortunes  of  the  soul 
should  be  born  in  mind.    The  souls  do  not  go  to  the 

' '  Levy-Briihl :  Les  Fonctions  Mentales  dans  les  Societes 
Inferieures:  Paris,;  Mean;  2d  ed.;  1912.  Chap.  VIII,  espe- 
cially 1  and  4. 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  17 

land  of  the  dead  immediately  after  death.  They  are 
supposed  to  tarry  near  the  grave  and  about  their 
former  dwellings  until  the  end  of  the  period  of 
mourning,  which  appears  to  coincide  roughly  with 
the  complete  decomposition  of  the  body.  Then,  they 
move  to  ghost-land,  when  their  relation  with  their 
tribes'  people  becomes  more  distant.  Certain  tribes 
speak,  in  addition,  of  vagrant  souls  which,  unable  to 
get  to  the  land  of  spirits,  haunt  this  earth  for  a 
time  or  permanently. 

The  world  of  the  dead  is  more  or  less  vaguely  and 
variously  located,  somewhere  to  the  east  or  to  the 
west,  under  the  earth,  in  or  above  the  sky,  on  the 
other  side  of  a  mountain  or  of  a  river,  on  an  island, 
in  a  cave,  in  or  under  the  earth,  etc.  The  souls  may 
also  remain  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the 
tribe  and  lodge  themselves  in  trees,  plants,  stones 
or  in  any  object  whatsoever,  and  there  wait  for  a 
chance  to  be  re-born  from  a  woman  of  the  tribe  to 
which  they  belong.  The  Central  Australians,  for 
instance,  "  imagine  that  the  spirits  of  the  dead  con- 
tinue to  haunt  their  native  land  and  especially  cer- 
tain striking  natural  features  of  the  landscape.  It 
may  be  a  pool  of  water  in  a  deep  gorge  of  the  iDarren 
hills,  or  a  solitary  tree  in  the  sun-baked  plains,  or  a 
great  rock  that  affords  a  welcome  shade  in  the  sultry 
noon.  Such  spots  are  thought  to  be  tenanted  by 
the  souls  of  the  departed  waiting  to  be  born  again, 
There  they  lurk,  constantly  on  the  lookout  for  pass- 
ing women  into  whom  they  may  enter,  and  from 
whom  in  due  time  they  may  be  born  as  infants.  It 
matters  not  whether  the  woman  be  married  or  un- 


18  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

married,  a  matron  or  a  maid,  a  blooming  girl  or  a 
withered  hag;  any  woman  may  conceive  directly  by 
the  entrance  into  her  of  one  of  these  disembodied 
spirits ;  but  the  natives  have  shrewdly  observed  that 
the  spirits  show  a  decided  preference  for  plump 
young  women.  Hence  when  such  a  damsel  is  pass- 
ing near  a  plot  of  haunted  ground,  if  she  does  not 
wish  to  become  a  mother,  she  will  disguise  herself 
as  an  aged  crone  and  hobble  past,  saying  in  a  thin, 
cracked  voice,  'Don't  come  to  me.  I  am  an  old 
woman.'  Such  spots  are  often  stones,  which  the 
natives  call  child-stones  because  the  souls*  of  the 
dead  are  there  lying  in  wait  for  women  in  order  to 
be  born  as  children.  One  such  stone,  for  example, 
may  be  seen  in  the  land  of  the  Arunta  tribe  near 
Alice  Springs.  It  projects  to  a  height  of  three  feet 
from  the  ground  among  the  mulga  scrub,  and  there 
is  a  round  hole  in  it  through  which  the  souls  of  dead 
plum-tree  people  are  constantly  peeping,  ready  to 
pounce  out  on  a  likely  damsel.  Again,  in  the  terri- 
tory of  the  Warramunga  tribe  the  ghosts  of  black- 
snake  people  are  supposed  to  gather  in  the  rocks 
round  certain  pools  or  in  the  gum-trees  which  border 
the  generally  dry  bed  of  a  water-course.  No  War- 
ramunga woman  would  dare  to  strike  one  of  these 
trees  with  an  axe,  because  she  is  firmly  convinced 
that  in  doing  so  she  would  set  free  one  of  the  lurk- 
ing black-snake  spirits,  who  would  immediately  dart 
into  her  body.  They  think  that  the  spirits  are  no 
larger  than  grains  of  sand  and  that  they  make  their 
way  into  women  through  the  navel.  Nor  is  it  merely 
by  direct  contact  with  one  of  these  repositories  of 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  19 

souls,  nor  yet  by  pasing  near  it,  that  women  may 
be  gotten  with  child  against  their  wish.  The  Arunta 
believe  that  any  malicious  man  may  by  magic  cause 
a  woman  or  even  a  child  to  become  a  mother :  he  has 
only  to  go  to  one  of  the  child-stones  and  rub  it  with 
his  hands,  muttering  the  words,  *  Plenty  of  young 
women.    You  look  and  go  quickly.'  "  '' 

Long  before  ethical  considerations  have  begun  to 
influence  the  conception  of  the  future  life,  the  realm 
of  the  dead  is  made  up  of  several  places  or  divisions. 
Warriors,  priests,  women  and  children  may  each 
have  a  place  of  their  own;  there  may  be  special 
abodes  for  the  people  who  have  been  shot,  for  those 
who  have  been  clubbed  to  death,  for  those  who  have 
been  done  to  death  by  magic,  etc.  Among  the 
Muriks,  a  tribe  of  Sarawak  in  Borneo,  all  except 
women  who  have  died  in  child-birth  and  men  who 
have  died  in  warfare,  go  to  Long  Kendi.  As  the 
warriors  come  along  the  road  leading  to  it,  a  guard- 
ian spirit  turns  them  ''  down  a  rocky  path,  which 
leads  to  the  country  of  Pohun  Nang  where  there  is 
always  war  and  famine,  so  that  these  restless  spirits 
can  indulge  themselves  to  their  heart's  content.  " 
The  women  who  have  died  in  child-birth  have  their 
own  dwelling  place.  To  the  gods  of  these  Muriks  is 
assigned  still  another  abode.''  According  to  one 
account,  the  Fijians  imagine  that  every  man  has  two 
souls,  a  dark  and  a  light  one.     "  The  dark  soul  de- 


''I  take  this  from  Frazer:  Loc.  cit.;  pages  93,  94,  who 
summarizes  here  information  found  on  many  pages  of  Spen- 
cer and  Gillen's  two  volumes  on  the  Australian  tribes. 

'•  The  Sarawak  Museum  Journal;  1911;  Vol.  8;  page  146. 


20  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

parts  at  death  to  Hades,  while  the  light  soul  stays 
near  the  place  where  he  died  or  was  killed."  '*  I 
have  already  quoted  a  passage  in  which  the  ghosts 
are  represented  as  swimming  to  two  little  islands. 
The  ghosts  of  children  live  on  one,  and  the  ghosts 
of  grown  up  people  on  the  other. 

The  colors  with  which  ghost-land  is  painted  vary 
somewhat  from  tribe  to  tribe;  these  differences  re- 
flect no  doubt  social  conditions  and  dominant  tem- 
peramental characteristics.  The  world  of  the  dead 
is  usually  neither  better  nor  worse  than  that  of 
the  living.  Among  many  tribes,  however,  a  para- 
disiacal element  appears :  the  land  of  the  dead  is  de- 
scribed as  a  fortunate  country  abounding  in  food 
and  of  a  pleasant  climate,  where  work  is  unneces- 
sary. These  ideas  are  found  in  widely  distant  coun- 
tries and  among  the  more,  as  well  as  among  the  less 
primitive  savages. 

The  tribes  of  central  Australia,  'for  instance, 
place  ghost-land  below  the  earth,  in  a  well  watered 
land,  enjoying  a  perpetual  sunshine.'"  A  similar 
belief  exists  among  the  Australians  of  New  South 
Wales  and  of  Victoria."  In  German  New  Guinea, 
the  Monumbo  who,  we  are  told,  *'  are  acquainted 
with  no  Supreme  Being,  no  moral  good  or  evil,  no 
rewards,  no  place  of  punishment  or  joy  after  death, 
no  permanent  immortality,"  believe,  nevertheless, 
that  in  the  land  of  spirits  the  souls  dwell  without 
working  or  suffering.     *'  Bethel-chewing,  smoking, 


"  Frazer:  Loc.  cit.;  page  411. 

'"  Spencer  and  Gillen:  The  Native  Tribes  of  Central  Aus- 
tralia.    Pages  513,  524. 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  21 

dancing,  sleeping,  all  the  occupations  that  they 
loved  on  earth  are  continued  without  interruption 
in  the  other  world.  They  converse  with  men  in 
dreams,  but  play  them  many  a  shabby  trick,  take 
possession  of  them  and  even,  it  may  be,  kill  them. 
Yet  they  also  help  men  in  all  manner  of  ways  in  war 
and  the  chase.  Men  invoke  them,  pray  to  them, 
make  statues  in  their  memory,  which  are  called  dva 
(plural  dvaka)  y  and  bring  them  offerings  of  food, 
in  order  to  obtain  their  assistance.  But  if  the 
spirits  of  the  dead  do  not  help,  they  are  rated  in  the 
plainest  language."  ''  It  is  worthy  of  note  that 
these  Monumbo  are  of  an  optimistic  disposition. 
They  are  described  as  **  cheerful  and  contented, 
proud  of  themselves  and  their  country;  they  think 
they  are  the  cleverest  and  most  fortunate  people  on 
earth,  and  look  down  with  pity  and  contempt  on 
Europeans."  ''  We  have  seen  that  the  Fijians  also 
seem  to  think  of  the  other  life  as  on  the  whole  desir- 
able. But  if  they  frequently  murdered  in  cold  blood 
the  invalid  and  the  aged,  on  the  ground  that  they 
would  be  happier  in  the  other  life,  one  should  not  for- 
get another  motive,  probably  not  less  influential  for 
being  unavowed,  namely,  the  wish  of  those  who  exe- 
cuted the  deed  to  be  rid  of  an  encumbrance.  In 
the  establishment  of  this  practice,  economic  motives 
(insufficient  food  for  instance),  played  probably  the 
essential  role.    The  dwelling  place  of  the  dead,  when 


*'  Matthews,  "  Ethnol.    Notes  on  the  Aboriginal  Tribes  of 
New  South  Wales  and  Victoria."    Jr,  and  Proc.  of  the  Royal 
"Frazer:  Loo,  cit.;  pages  228,  229. 
*'Frazer:  Loc.  cit.;  page  228. 


22  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

there  is  only  one,  is  generally  pictured  by  the  North 
American  Indians  as  a  Happy  Hunting  Ground,  in 
which  the  chief  wishes  of  man  are  gratified  without 
painful  effort.'* 

To  one  acquainted  with  the  universal  fear  of 
ghosts  shown  by  the  savage,  and  with  the  belief  in 
the  utterly  wretched  condition  of  all  souls,  enter- 
tained at  the  dawn  of  the  historical  period  in  the 
nations  from  which  Europe  derived  its  civilization, 
the  belief  of  many  primitive  peoples  in  a  para- 
dise may  come  as  a  surprise.  The  presence  of  that 
belief  does  not  prevent  the  ghosts  from  being  regard- 
ed by  all  savages  as  mischief  makers,  as  causes  of 
sickness,  death,  and  poverty.  One  of  the  chief  con- 
cerns of  the  savage  is  to  make  it  impossible  for  the 
recently  liberated  ghost  to  return  to  those  he  leaves 
behind.  The  majority  of  the  ceremonies  connected 
with  death  and  burial  aim  at  preventing  them  from 
returning  to  the  living,  or  at  warding  off  their  nefar- 
ious activities.  Curious  methods  are  in  use  to  throw 
off  the  track  the  ghost  who  might  try  to  return  to 
the  body  or  the  hut  just  vacated.  Among  the  Tuski  of 
Alaska  "  those  who  die  a  natural  death  are  carried 
out  through  a  hole  cut  in  the  back  of  the  hut.  This 
is  immediately  closed  up  that  the  spirit  of  the  dead 
man  may  not  find  his  way  back.""  Elsewhere 
for  the  same  reason,  the  corpse  is  let  out  of  the 
house  through  the  floor  or  is  carried  two  or  three 


"*  E.  L.  Moon  Conard:  Les  Idees  des  Indiens  Algonquins 
relatives  a  la  vie  d* Outre  Tomhe;  Chap.  III.  Reprinted  from 
Rev.  de  VHistoire  des  Religions;  1900;  Tome  XLII. 

""  W.  H.  Dall:  Alaska  and  Its  Resources:  Boston;  Lee  and 
Shepard;  180.    Page  382. 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  23 

times  around  the  house  at  top  speed  so  as  to  be- 
wilder him. 

Even  when  unmistakable  sorrow  is  felt  at  the 
death  of  a  friend,  his  ghost  is  dreaded  and  every  pre- 
caution may  be  taken  to  prevent  his  return.  In 
speaking  of  the  Algonquins,  Mrs.  Conard  expresses 
the  conviction  that  the  relatives  of  the  dead  are  us- 
ually affected  by  the  loss  of  the  deceased.  She  tells 
of  an  old  Ojibway  chief  who  would  go  alone  to  the 
tomb  of  his  son  and  lament  his  departure,  ''  Why 
have  you  gone  so  soon  to  the  country  of  the  dead?  " 
"  The  frequent  visits  to  the  tomb  of  the  deceased 
and  the  lamentations  constitute  the  best  proof  of  the 
affectionate  feelings  of  the  survivors,  especially  when 
these  visits  are  not  made  at  stated  times."  "  Never- 
theless, these  Indians  perform  certain  rites  in  order 
to  drive  these  same  souls  away  from  their  houses. 

Levy-Briihl  notes  instances  in  which  the  desire  of 
the  removal  of  the  ghost  from  the  proximity  of  his 
loving  friends  is  naively  expressed.  ''When  a  man 
is  dying,  his  friends  bring  him  food  and  say :  *  Be 
good;  if  you  leave  us,  leave  us  for  good.'  Among 
the  Igorotes  of  the  Philippines,  during  the  first  days 
following  death,  the  old  women  and  then  the  old 
men  sing  several  times  the  following  chant :  '  Now 
you  are  dead.  .  .  .  We  have  given  you  everything 
that  was  necessary  and  made  fitting  preparations 
for  burial.  Do  not  come  back  to  fetch  any  of  your 
relatives  or  friends.'  Similarly  in  Western  Africa, 
the  Reverend  Nassau  explains  that  the  feelings  of 
survivors  toward  a  dead  man  are  very  much  mixed. 


"  See  Moon  Conard:  Loc.  cit.;  pages  58,  59. 


24  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

When  they  beg  of  him  to  come  back  to  life,  they 
are  certainly  sincere,  they  desire  his  return;  but  al- 
most at  the  same  time,  appears  the  fear  that  the 
dead  may  come  back  not  in  his  usual  and  sociable 
form  but  in  the  condition  of  a  disincarnated  spirit, 
invisible  and  perhaps  hostile."  " 

It  should  not  be  inferred  from  the  universal  fear 
of  ghosts  that  they  are  all  entirely  malevolent.  On 
the  contrary,  in  all  primitive  populations  there  are 
ghosts  who  perform  kindly  offices.  In  Australia, 
they  are  "  generally  looked  upon  rather  as  benef- 
icent, especially  for  the  members  of  their  families; 
.  .  .  the  soul  of  the  father  returns  to  help  the 
growth  of  his  children  or  grandchildren."  " 

EXPLANATION  OF  THE  FEAR  OF  GHOSTS  AND  THE 

EVIL  CHARACTER  USUALLY  ASCRIBED 

TO  THEM 

When  attempting  to  account  for  the  unpleasant 
character  of  the  relations  maintained  by  the  living 
with  the  dead,  we  must  ask  ourselves  what  facts 
known  to  the  savage  are  likely  to  affect  the  charac- 
ter he  ascribes  to  ghosts  and  his  attitude  towards 
them.  There  are  at  least  four  of  these :  the  liking 
for  life,  the  aversion  to  death  itself,  the  fate  of  the 
earthly  body,  and  the  mystery  surrounding  the  ex- 
istence of  the  invisible  ghosts.  Let  us  consider  these 
facts  in  the  reverse  order. 

(a)  Man's  instinctive  response  to  the  presence  of 
things  not  clearly  seen  or  understood,  is  the  recoil 
of  fear  and  the  attraction  of  curiosity.    Ghosts  are 


Levy-Briihl:  hoc.  cit.;  pages  367-370,  398-403. 
Durkheim:  Loc.  cit.,  page  392. 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  25 

commonly  supposed  to  approach  the  living  during 
sleep,  but  no  one  can  tell  where  they  hide  or  what 
they  will  do.  The  passage  quoted  from  Durkheim 
in  which  is  affirmed  the  benevolence  of  certain 
ghosts,  is  immediately  followed  by  these  lines,  "  But 
it  may  happen  that  the  [same]  ghost  behaves  with 
real  cruelty ;  everything  depends  on  his  mood  and  the 
way  in  which  he  is  treated  by  the  living."  The  lack 
of  definite  knowledge  of  the  mode  of  existence  of 
ghosts,  of  their  desires,  and  of  their  intentions, 
awakens  an  uneasy  alertness  to  possible  dangers 
which  readily  turns  into  fear.  Fear  breeds  antip- 
athy; for,  one  cannot  like  that  which  keeps  one 
continually  in  a  state  of  fearful  suspense.  Under 
these  circumstances,  it  unavoidably  comes  to  pass 
that  the  commission  of  particular  evil  deeds  is 
ascribed  to  ghosts:  a  person  we  dislike,  and  with 
whom  we  have  to  live,  is  soon  blackened  by  number- 
less sins  of  omission  and  of  commission,  however 
blameless  he  may  really  be. 

(b)  The  fate  of  the  human  and  animal  body,  in 
so  far  as  it  rots,  stinks,  and  disappears,  leaving 
only  bones,  is  perfectly  well  known  to  the  savage.  It 
would  seem  natural  that  in  some  vague  way  he  should 
look  upon  the  ghost  as  participating  in  the  misery 
of  the  putrefying  body,  and  that  the  repulsion  felt 
for  it  should  pass  to  the  ghost  connected  with  it. 
It  is  a  similar  mental  process  that  induces  in  many 
a  dislike  of  automobiles  and  even  of  their  owners 
because  of  the  dust,  the  noise,  and  the  danger  they 
occasion. 

The  corpse  is  not  connected  in  the  mind  of  the 


26  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

savage  with  the  ghost  only,  but  usually  also  with 
mysterious,  impersonal,  magical  powers.  At  times 
these  seem  to  belong  to  the  corpse,  at  times  to  the 
ghost  itself.  The  nature  of  both  magical  power  and 
ghost  is  determined  in  some  respect  by  certain  char- 
acteristics of  the  corpse;  and,  in  turn,  the  behavior 
of  the  savage  towards  the  corpse  is  in  part  the  out- 
come of  these  two  conceptions. 

The  more  dangerous  period  for  the  living  is,  ac- 
cording to  the  savage,  the  one  immediately  following 
death,  it  lasts  until  the  final  mourning  ceremonies, 
which  mark  the  complete  separation  of  the  soul  from 
the  decaying  body  and  its  entrance  into  spirit-land. 
African  natives  explained  to  Miss  Kingsley  that  the 
souls  who  harm  surviving  members  of  their  families 
do  not  do  so  with  evil  intent ;  they  behave  badly  be- 
cause, until  they  are  settled  in  the  society  of  spirits, 
they  are  unhappy." 

Numerous  customs  testify  to  the  connection  estab- 
lished by  the  savage  mind  between  the  destitution  of 
the  body  in  the  grave  and  the  ghost.  The  placing 
of  food  and  weapons  in  the  graves,  the  keeping  of 
fires  on  or  near  them,  the  sending  of  the  widow  after 
the  ghost,  and  other  widespread  practices  may  indi- 
cate that  the  living  do  not  understand  how,  without 
their  help,  the  dead  may  have  a  tolerable  time  of  it. 
If  we  may  see  in  these  customs  an  expression  of 
benevolence,  we  may  also  regard  them  as  an  effort 
to  propitate:  kindness  and  fear  may  have  operated 
together  in  the  production  of  these  practices. 

"  Levy-BriihhLoc.  cit.;  pages  365,  366. 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  27 

When  the  last  mourning  rite  has  been  celebrated 
— possibly  several  years  after  the  death — the  ghost 
is  no  longer  supposed  to  roam  among  the  living,  un- 
happy and  dangerous.  He  has  definitely  found  his 
place  in  the  abode  of  the  dead  and  his  relation  with 
the  living  has  become  more  distant.  The  customs  of 
the  Tarahumares  of  Mexico  mark  well  the  successive 
stages  in  the  removal  of  the  ghost  from  the  prox- 
imity of  the  living.  Three  festivals  are  celebrated. 
"At  the  first,  which  takes  place  less  than  two  weeks 
after  the  death,  all  those  who  are  in  mourning  speak 
to  the  dead,  the  shaman  first,  begging  him  to  let  alone 
the  living.  .  .  .  The  third  festival  is  the  final  effort 
to  get  rid  of  the  dead.  This  ceremony  comes  to  an 
end  with  a  race  between  two  young  men.  '  They  come 
back  rejoicing  because  at  last  the  dead  has  finally 
gone;  .  .  .  they  show  their  contentment  by  throw- 
ing up  their  blankets,  their  coats,  their  hats.  .  .  . 
The  names  given  to  these  three  ceremonies  indicate 
respectively,  the  intention  of  providing  food  for  the 
ghost,  of  renewing  his  provisions,  of  giving  him  to 
drink.' 

"  But  these  same  Tarahumares  when  once  the  final 
ceremony  has  been  celebrated  know  that  they  need 
not  fear  any  longer,  and  they  act  accordingly. 
*  They  would  see  me  without  emotion,'  says  Mr. 
Lumholtz,  'remove  the  corpses  of  their  dead,  pro- 
vided they  had  been  buried  a  few  years  and  the  nec- 
essary ceremonies  aiming  at  separating  them  from 
this  world  had  been  celebrated.  ...  A  Tarahumare 
sold  me  the  skeleton  of  his  mother-in-law  for  a  dol- 


28  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

lar.'  "  '"  Relations  between  the  dead  and  the  liv- 
ing are  not  usually  altogether  severed  with  the  final 
ceremony,  but  the  ghost  no  longer  demands  assiduous 
attention,  and  it  has  ceased  to  be  a  constant  source 
of  anxiety. 

(c)  The  death  crisis  itself  is  also  a  repulsive  fact. 
It  is  ordinarily  objected  to  with  all  the  strength  of 
most  powerful  instinctive  tendencies.  Here  again 
it  seems  unavoidable  that  the  dread  of  death  should 
tend  to  pass  upon  the  existence  to  which  death  leads. 

The  belief  that  most  or  all  deaths  are  due  to 
malevolent  spirits  could  only  increase  the  repulsion 
that  may  have  been  felt  for  the  other  life  and  its 
denizens. 

(d)  A  liking  for  this  life  is,  independently  of 
the  instinctive  recoil  from  death,  a  cause  of  dislike 
for  the  other.  A  place  to  which  we  are  compelled  to 
go  when  we  w^ould  rather  remain  where  we  are,  can 
hardly  be  regarded  with  favor. 

We  may  affirm,  therefore,  that  the  love  of  life  and 
these  three  impressive  facts,  death,  bodily  decom- 
position, and  the  mystery  surrounding  the  existence 
of  ghosts,  are  not  of  a  nature  to  make  the  savage 
think  of  the  ghost,  during  the  initial  period  of  his 
existence,  as  a  benevolent  and  satisfied  being ;  on  the 
contrary,  they  conspire  to  make  of  him  an  object 
of  anxiety  and  dread.  The  calamities  of  human 
existence  provide,  moreover,  what  seems  abundant 
proof  of  the  evil  propensity  of  ghosts. 

Durkheim  has  offered  another  more  ingenious 
and  less  simple  explanation  of  the  evil  character 


Loc.  cit.;  pages  375,  376. 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  29 

ascribed  to  the  ghost.  According  to  him,  this  results 
from  an  effort  on  the  part  of  the  savage  to  account 
for  the  painfulness  of  his  mourning  customs.  Here 
is  the  theory  in  the  author's  own  words : — 

"  It  is  not  only  the  relatives  most  directly  affected 
who  bring  to  the  mourning  assembly  their  personal 
grief,  but  society  as  a  whole  exercises  upon  its  mem- 
bers a  moral  pressure  to  adjust  their  feelings  har- 
moniously to  the  situation.  If  the  social  group  were 
to  allow  its  members  to  be  indifferent  to  the  blow 
received,  and  by  which  it  has  been  diminished  [the 
death  of  one  of  them],  this  would  be  equivalent  to 
acknowledging  that  the  group  does  not  occupy  in 
their  hearts  a  sufficiently  important  place.  ...  A 
family  that  would  permit  one  of  its  number  to  die 
unmourned  would  thereby  testify  to  a  lack  of  moral 
unity  and  cohesion.  .  .  .  The  individual,  on  his  side, 
when  firmly  attached  to  his  group,  feels  morally 
bound  to  participate  in  its  sorrows  and  joys ;  to  take 
no  part  in  them  would  be  to  break  the  bonds  which 
unite  him  to  the  collective  life.  ...  If  the  Chris- 
tians, during  Passion  Week ;  if  the  Jews,  on  the  anni- 
versary of  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  fast  and  mortify 
themselves,  it  is  not  in  order  to  give  vent  to  a  spon- 
taneous sadness.  In  circumstances  like  these  the 
emotion  of  the  believer  is  not  proportional  to  the  un- 
comfortable abstinences  which  he  endures.  If  he  is 
sad,  it  is  chiefly  because  he  is  compelling  himself 
to  be  so ;  and  he  compels  himself  in  order  to  affirm 
his  faith.  The  attitude  of  the  Australians  during 
mourning  is  to  be  explained  in  the  same  manner. 
If  he  weeps,  if  he  groans,  it  is  not  simply  in  order 


30  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

to  express  an  individual  sorrow;  it  is  in  order  to 
fulfill  a  duty,  of  the  existence  of  which  society  would 
not  fail  to  remind  him  should  occasion  arise." 

Of  course,  the  savage  himself  does  not  know  the 
true  cause  of  his  practices.  **  When  he  attempts  to 
interpret  them,  he  is  compelled  to  make  up  an  alto- 
gether different  explanation.  He  knows  only  that 
he  feels  bound  to  subject  himself  to  painful  treat- 
ment. As  a  sense  of  obligation  naturally  aw^akens 
the  idea  of  a  compelling  will,  he  looks  about  him, 
seeking  from  whom  may  come  the  constraint  he 
feels.  Now,  there  is  a  power  the  reality  of  which 
seems  to  him  certain,  and  which  appears  to  answer 
the  purpose;  this  is  the  soul  liberated  by  death. 
This  soul,  of  course,  must  be  keenly  interested  in 
the  consequences  which  its  liberation  may  have  up- 
on the  living,  and  the  savage  imagines,  therefore, 
that  if  the  living  inflict  torments  upon  themselves,  it 
is  in  order  to  conform  to  the  souFs  claims.  ...  On  the 
other  hand,  since  inhuman  demands  are  ascribed 
to  the  soul,  one  is  compelled  to  suppose  that  in  leav- 
ing the  body  which  it  had  so  far  animated,  the  soul 
loses  all  humane  feeling.  .  .  .  The  dead  are  not 
mourned  because  they  are  feared,  but  are  feared  be- 
cause they  are  mourned."  " 

No  one  would  contest  that  the  greater  number  of 
mourning  ceremonies  are  not  purely,  not  even  chief- 
ly, the  expression  of  personal  feeling  for  the  dead. 
Doubtless  they  manifest  social  coercion ;  but  this  fact 
does  not  necessarily  imply  the  truth  of  Durkheim's 


'^  E.  Durkheim:   Les  Formes  Elementaires  de  la  Vie  Re- 
ligieuse:  Paris;  Alcan;  1912.    Pages  571,  572,  573. 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  31 

deduction,  namely  that  objectionable  character  of 
the  ghost  is  altogether  and  primarily  a  reflection  of 
the  unpleasantness  of  mourning  customs.  I  see  very 
well  that  the  unpleasantness  of  these  customs  may 
tend  to  blacken  the  character  of  the  ghost,  but  I 
cannot  admit  that  because  of  this  possible  effect  one 
is  to  set  aside  the  more  direct  explanation  which  I 
have  provided. 

How  shall  we,  in  view  of  the  facts  I  have  recited, 
account  for  the  existence  among  numerous  savage 
tribes  of  a  paradisiacal  conception  of  the  other  life? 
The  existence  of  circumstances  producing  fear  of 
ghosts  does  not  preclude  that  of  factors  of  an  op- 
posite tendency.     Given  the  belief  in  continuation 
after  death,  one  does  not  see  why  at  some  time  or 
other,  and  very  early,  human  imagination  prompted 
by  the  desire  for  happiness  should  not  have  dreamt 
of  a  delightful  land  abounding  in  all  the  things  that 
make  this  life  pleasant.     This  propensity,  to  which 
myths  in  various  parts  of  the  earth  testify,  and  the 
adverse  facts  I  have  mentioned,  urged  man  in  two 
opposed    directions;    thus    conflicting    accounts    of 
ghost-life  arose.     In  this  conflict,  the  belief  in  a 
happy  future  life  seems  to  have  suffered  defeat,  for 
we  shall  see  that  the  idea  of  a  paradise  no  longer 
existed  at  the  dawn  of  the  historical  period  among 
the  peoples  living  about  the  Eastern  end  of  the  Med- 
iterranean sea. 

But  why  did  the  idea  of  a  happy  land  of  the  dead 
go  out  of  existence?  I  can  only  surmise  in  answer 
to  this  query  that  the  destruction  at  death  of  the 
earthly  body  had  gained  such  a  decisive  meaning, 


32  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

and  that  the  information  about  the  other  life  gleaned 
from  apparitions  of  ghosts  in  diverse  circumstances 
was  such  as  to  make  ineffective  any  impulse  that 
might  have  been  present  to  conceive  ghost  life  as  a 
happy  one.  Not  until  new  and  powerful  motives 
had  made  themselves  felt,  did  it  become  possible  for 
man  to  transcend  by  faith  the  knowledge  which  had 
come  to  be  interpreted  as  meaning  unavoidable  and 
final  misery  after  death. 

CONDITIONS  OF  ADMISSION  TO  THE  OTHER  WORLD 

AND    THE    RELATION    OF    MORALITY   TO 

CONTINUATION  AFTER  DEATH 

Usually  the  land  of  the  dead  is  not  reached  with- 
out overcoming  some  obstacles.  There  are  dangers 
to  be  avoided  and  ordeals  to  be  successfully  met  be- 
fore the  ghost  may  be  established  in  his  new  quar- 
ters. Some  of  these  are  merely  creations  of  fantasy 
without  moral  significance:  the  savage  has  amused 
himself  by  inventing  dramatic  or  comic  incidents. 
Such  is  the  case  in  the  following  story : — 

The  Fijians  tell  of  a  terrible  giant  armed  with 
a  great  axe,  who  lies  in  wait  for  the  souls.  This 
giant  makes  no  distinctions  but  strikes  at  all  who 
attempt  to  pass.  Those  whom  he  wounds,  never 
reach  the  happy  country,  but  are  doomed  to  roam 
rugged  mountains,  disconsolate.  Those  who  escape, 
pass  on  till  they  come  to  one  of  the  highest  moun- 
tains of  the  islands.  Somewhere  "  the  path  ends 
abruptly  on  the  brink  of  a  precipice,  the  foot  of 
which  is  washed  by  a  deep  lake.  Over  the  edge  of 
the  precipice  projects  a  large  steer-oar,  and  the 
handle  is  held  either  by  the  great  god  Ndengei  him- 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  33 

self,   or,   according  to   the  better  opinion,   by  his 
deputy.     When  a  ghost  comes  up  and  peers  rue- 
fully over  the  precipice,  the  deputy  accosts  him. 
*  Under  what  circumstances,'  he  asks,  '  do  you  come 
to  us?    How  did  you  conduct  yourself  in  the  other 
world?  *    Should  the  ghost  be  a  man  of  rank,  he  may 
say,  *  I  am  a  great  chief.    I  live  as  a  chief  and  my 
conduct  was  that  of  a  chief.     I  had  great  wealth, 
many  wives,  and  ruled  over  a  powerful  people.     I 
have  destroyed  many  towns,  and  slain  many  in  war.' 
'  Good,  good,'  says  the  deputy,  '  just  sit  down  on  the 
blade  of  that  oar,  and  refresh  yourself  in  the  cool 
breeze.'     If  the  ghost  is  unwary  enough  to  accept 
the  invitation,  he  has  no  sooner  seated  himself  on 
the  blade  of  the  oar  with  his  legs  dangling  over  the 
abyss,  than  the  deputy-deity  tilts  up  the  other  end  of 
the  oar  and  precipitates  him  into  the  deep  water,  far 
far  below.    A  loud  smack  is  heard  as  the  ghost  col- 
lides with  the  water,  there  is  a  splash,  a  gurgle,  a 
ripple,  and  all  is  over.     The  ghost  has  gone  to  his 
account  in  Murimuria,  a  very  second-rate  sort  of 
heaven,  if  it  is  nothing  worse.    But  a  ghost  who  is  in 
favor  with  the  great  god  Ndengei  is  warned  by  him 
not  to  sit  down  on  the  blade  of  the  oar  but  on  the 
handle.    The  ghost  takes  the  hint  and  seats  himself 
firmly  on  the  safe  end  of  the  oar;  and  when  the 
deputy-deity  tries  to  heave  it  up,  he  cannot,  for  he 
has  no  purchase.     So  the  ghost  remains  master  of 
the  situation,  and  after  an  interval  for  refreshment 
is  sent  back  to  earth  to  be  deified.'" 

Accounts  of  similar  ordeals  are  found  in  many 


'^Frazer:  Loc.  cit.;  pages  456,  4G6. 


34  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

places.  Tribes  in  German  New  Guinea  believe  that 
a  ladder  is  placed  over  a  great  water  for  the  souls 
to  pass  over  on  their  way  to  the  land  of  the  dead. 
A  spirit  who  has  the  ladder  in  his  keeping  exacts 
gifts  of  all  who  wish  to  go  by.  If  any  attempt  is 
made  to  sneak  across  without  paying  toll,  the  lad- 
der is  tipped  up,  the  ghost  falls  and  is  drowned." 

Side  by  side  with  these  merely  imaginative  stories 
of  the  dangers  threatening  the  ghost  on  his  journey, 
one  finds  indications  of  the  advantage  to  the  ghost 
of  having  possessed  in  his  earthly  life  certain  par- 
ticular traits  valuable  to  the  tribe,  or  of  having  per- 
formed faithfully  certain  tribal  customs.  Could  it 
have  been  otherwise?  Could  man  have  observed  the 
worth  to  his  tribe,  and  therefore  to  himself,  of  cour- 
age and  loyalty,  and  not  have  conceived  of  a  reward 
in  the  other  life  for  those  who  had  conspicuously 
possessed  these  virtues?  As  a  matter  of  fact,  one 
finds  that  very  early  and  in  many  tribes  warriors 
and  chiefs  are  assigned  to  a  special  and  a  better 
heaven  than  the  rank  and  file,  or  that,  in  some  other 
way,  the  particularly  important  and  useful  individ- 
uals are  favored.  The  first  step  towards  the  sociali- 
zation of  the  conditions  of  admittance  to  the  other 
world  may  perhaps  be  exemplified  by  the  following 
beliefs : — 

In  Florida  (Melanesia)  the  dead  are  met  by  a 
ghost  who  thrusts  a  rod  into  their  noses  to  see 
whether  the  cartilage  is  pierced  according  to  the 
customs  of  their  tribe.  Those  whose  noses  are  not 
pierced  have  much  difficulty  in  making  their  way  to 

"  Frazer:  Loc.  cit.;  page  224. 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  35 

the  realm  of  the  shades.  In  the  Solomon  Islands, 
it  is  the  hands  that  are  examined  to  see  whether  the 
ghosts  bear  the  marks  of  the  sacred  Frigate  Bird  cut 
on  them.  Those  who  do  not  are  cast  into  a  gulf  and 
perish.  In  Eastern  Melanesia  the  ghosts  must  have 
their  ears  bored,  and  men  who  were  not  tattooed 
on  earth  are  chased  by  female  ghosts  ''  who  scratch 
and  cut  and  tear  them  with  sharp  shells,  giving  them 
no  respite."  If  those  who  do  not  bear  the  marks 
mentioned  in  these  illustrations  are  not  admitted  to 
ghost-land,  it  is  because  only  those  possessing  them 
are  acknowledged  in  life  as  full  members  of  the 
tribe.  In  Samoa,  for  instance,  as  long  as  a  young  man 
had  not  been  tattooed,  he  could  not  think  of  mar- 
riage, he  was  constantly  an  object  of  ridicule,  he  had 
not  the  right  to  speak  in  the  company  of  men.''  Any 
adult  lacking  the  tribal  mark  was  an  alien. 

The  following  beliefs  illustrate  in  a  more  signifi- 
cant way  the  early  use  made — not  with  clear  intent, 
of  course  —  of  the  after  life  as  a  sanction  for  socially 
valuable  conduct.  In  Northern  Melanesia  those 
who  have  been  niggardly  on  earth  are  punished  on 
their  way  to  ghost-land.  They  hold  that  all 
breaches  of  etiquette  or  of  the  ordinary  customs  of 
the  countn^  will  certainly  meet  with  appropriate 
punishments  in  spirit-land.*'  If  among  the  Fijians 
*'  the  lot  of  a  married  ghost  whose  wives  have  not 
been  murdered  is  hard,  it  is  nevertheless  felicity  it- 
self compared  to  the  fate  of  bachelor  ghosts.  In  the 
first  place,  there  is  a  terrible  being,  called  The  Great 


"'Turner:  Samoa.     Page  88.     Quoted  by  Levy-Briihl:  Loc. 
cit.;  page  411. 

''Frazer:  Loc.  cit.;  pages  350,  446,  405. 


86  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

Woman  who  lurks  in  a  shady  defile,  ready  to  pounce 
upon  him;  and  if  he  escapes  her  clutches,  it  is  only 
to  fall  in  with  a  much  worse  monster  from  whom 
there  is  no  escape.  So  vigilant  and  alert  is  he  that 
not  a  single  unmarried  Fijian  ghost  is  known  to 
have  ever  reached  the  mansions  of  the  blessed."  " 
The  Black  Feet  Indians  of  Saskatchewan  deny  ad- 
mission to  the  future  life  to  those  who  have  spilled 
the  blood  of  their  tribes'  people,  and  to  women 
guilty  of  infanticide." 

When  instead  of  punishing  the  ghost  for  the  neg- 
lect of  one  or  two  valuable  customs,  he  is  made  to 
stand  a  general  examination  into  his  conduct  on 
earth,  such  for  instance  as  is  described  in  the  "  Book 
of  the  Dead,"  a  great  stride  forward  has  been  made ; 
the  ideas  of  social  worth  and  of  moral  responsibility 
have  become  more  definite.  This  stage  had  been 
reached  in  Egypt  probably  as  early  as  the  Middle 
Kingdom.  Before  that  time,  although  the  Egyp- 
tians had  already  attained  a  considerable  civiliza- 
tion, righteousness  was  not  among  the  conditions  of 
entrance  into  the  other  world.  We  are  told  that 
that  which  enabled  the  King  to  secure  a  place  in 
the  land  of  the  Sun,  was  his  rank,  his  power,  and  his 
"  equipped  mouth,"  i.  e.,  his  knowledge  of  the  ritual, 
religious  and  magical.  King  Pepi,  for  instance,  be- 
came a  glorious  one  ''  by  reason  of  his  equipped 
mouth."  He  was,  it  is  true,  to  undergo  a  purifica- 
tion, but  this  might  take  place  after  his  arrival  in 


■'"  Frazer:  Loc.  cit.;  page  464,  abbreviated. 

^"  Moon  conard:      Loc.  cit.,  page  87.     Is   the   influence  of 
Christian  missionaries  to  be  recognized  here? 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  37 

the  sky;  and,  whether  after  or  before,  the  bathing 
in  the  sacred  lake  was  usually  intended  to  produce 
nothing  more  than  a  ceremonial  purification. 

The  "  Book  of  the  Dead ''  shows  Osiris  sitting  as 
the  judge  of  the  dead  in  company  with  assessors. 
Before  him  stands  the  balance  on  which  the  heart  of 
the  deceased  is  to  be  weighed  against  Truth.  The 
dead  makes  a  confession  in  which  he  declares  that 
he  is  free  from  a  long  list  of  sins.  Many  of  the  of- 
fenses which  he  disclaims  having  committed  are 
mere  breaches  of  religious  or  magical  etiquette,  but 
others  make  it  clear  that  no  man  is  now  considered 
"  justified  "  and  fit  to  enter  the  happy  world  of  the 
dead  unless  he  declares  himself  free  from  all  the  or- 
dinary sins.  It  is  true  that  the  soul's  attitude  before 
the  heavenly  court  has  nothing  of  the  humility  of  a 
confession.  The  soul  is  instructed  by  the  '*  Book  of 
the  Dead  "  to  affirm  his  innocence  of  murder,  steal- 
ing, cheating,  lying,  avariciousness,  pride,  covetous- 
ness,  etc.  This  is  not  yet  the  genuine  ethical  rela- 
tion that  came  to  exist  later  on  between  moralized 
gods  and  sensitive  consciences. 

The  transformation  of  the  primary  belief  into  an 
instrument  of  social  control  involves  the  appearance 
either  of  the  belief  in  the  destruction  of  the  wicked 
at  death,  or  of  the  existence  of  several  abodes  for  the 
dead — of  at  least  one  place  of  reward  and  one  of 
punishment.  I  do  not  propose  to  write  a  history  of 
the  differentiation  of  the  original  ghost-land  into  a 
heaven  and  a  hell.  My  task  is  merely  to  indicate 
the  influence  of  the  realization  of  ethical  values  upon 
the  primary  conception  of  immortality.     It  is  one 


38  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

of  the  most  interesting,  because  definite,  instances 
of  the  molding  of  a  belief  under  the  influence  of  so- 
cial need. 

Ethical  conditions  of  admission  to  the  other  life 
did  not  spread  from  Egypt  to  the  neighboring  na- 
tions. They  did  not  even  remain  a  vital  force  in  the 
Egyptian  religion  itself ;  they  shared  the  general  de- 
terioration which  overtook  the  nation.  Neither 
among  the  Babylonians  nor  among  the  Greeks,  is 
there  any  indication  of  a  separation  of  the  dead  on 
a  moral  basis.  "  There  is  nothing  to  show  that 
among  the  Babylonians,  either  among  the  populace 
or  in  the  schools,  a  belief  arose  in  a  paradise  whither 
privileged  persons  were  transported  after  death ;  nor 
is  any  distinction  made  by  them  between  the  good 
and  the  bad,  so  far  as  future  habitation  is  concerned. 
All  mankind,  kings  and  subjects,  virtuous  and  wicked 
go  to  Aralu.  Those  who  have  obtained  the  good  will 
of  the  gods  receive  their  reward  in  this  world  by  a 
life  of  happiness  and  good  health."  "  In  Greece,  all 
men  at  death  went  to  Hades.  The  two  exceptions 
we  shall  discuss  in  another  connection  stand  quite 
outside  our  present  line  of  thought;  for,  neither 
Menelaus  nor  Ganymede  passed  through  death,  and 
their  translation  was  not  a  reward  for  virtue. 
Elysium,  whereto  the  former  was  conveyed  is  not 
a  Walhalla  for  heroes,  nor  a  Paradise  for  the  good. 

In  these  nations,  destiny  held  in  store  the  same 
lot  for  every  man,  and  that  lot  was  a  miserable  one. 
It  required  apparently  the  moral  energy  of  the  He- 

*'  Morris  Jastrow:  Religion  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria; 
1898.     Page  578. 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  39 

brew  people  to  transform  again  the  idea  of  continu- 
ation after  death  into  an  instrument  of  retributive 
justice  and  to  introduce  it,  as  a  part  of  the  Christian 
religion,  throughout  the  civilized  world.  The  earli- 
est indication  of  a  separation  of  the  good  from  the 
wicked  is  found  in  Isaiah"  (about  330  B.  c.)  by 
whom  resurrection  is  attributed  only  to  the  just. 
But  it  is  resurrection  on  this  earth,  not  life  in 
heaven  which  the  prophet  announces.  In  Daniel  *' 
(about  160  B.  C.)  one  reads,  "And  many  of  them 
that  sleep  in  the  dust  of  the  earth  shall  awake,  some 
to  everlasting  life,  and  some  to  shame  and  everlast- 
ing contempt."  In  the  Book  of  Enoch  is  found  the 
mention  of  four  caves.  The  Angel  Raphael  explains 
that  they  are  to  receive  the  dead  until  the  great  day 
of  judgment.  In  one  of  the  caves,  there  is  a  bright 
spring  of  water  intended  for  the  spirits  of  the  right- 
eous. Another  cave  is  for  the  sinners;  there  they 
shall  remain  "  in  great  pain  until  the  great  day  of 
judgment  and  punishment  and  torment  of  the  ac- 
cursed forever,  so  that  there  may  be  retribution  for 
their  spirits."  *' 

The  consideration  of  the  conditions  of  admission 
to  the  other  life  has  brought  us  face  to  face  with  the 
much  discussed  problem  of  the  relation  of  ethics  to 
religion.      Diametrically    opposite    views    are    ex- 


'*  R.  H.  Charles:  A  Critical  History  of  the  Doctrine  of  the 
Future  Life  in  Israel,  in  Judaism,  and  in  Christianity ;  Ox- 
ford; 1912.     Chapter  XXVI:  1-19. 

*"  Chapter  XII:  2. 

''  Chapter  XXII. 


40  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

pressed  and  hotly  defended  regarding  this  relation, 
some  would  find  in  religion  the  origin  of  all  morality. 
It  is,  they  say,  '*  an  incontestable  fact  that  primi- 
tive morality  stands  in  very  close  connection  v^ith 
primitive  religion,  and  indeed  that  the  beginnings  of 
all  social  customs  and  legal  ordinances  are  directly 
derived  from  religious  notions  and  ceremonial  prac- 
tices." Others  affirm  that  "  a  mass  of  facts  demon- 
strate that  originally  the  religious  feeling  is  not  only 
foreign  to  morality,  but  is  in  contradiction  to  it." 
Let  us  stop  a  moment  to  consider  the  meaning  of 
what  we  have  learned  regarding  the  relation  of  mor- 
ality to  the  conception  of  immortality. 

The  problem  is  no  longer  one  for  speculation." 
The  facts  mentioned  in  the  preceding  pages,  incom- 
plete as  they  are,  suffice  nevertheless  to  show  that 
moral  values  do  not  exist  in  men's  ideas  of  the  con- 
ditions of  admittance  to  the  other  life  before  they 
are  recognized  in  earthly  relations.  The  value  of 
courage  and  of  the  observance  of  customs  making  for 
tribal  cohesion  and  cooperation,  are  not  first  given 
as  condition  of  admission  to  a  happy  land  beyond, 
and  later  discovered  to  be  essential  to  the  prosperity 
of  the  social  group.  Long  before  King  Pepi  thought 
he  could  gain  heaven  by  the  exertion  of  mere  magical 
power,  he  appreciated  in  his  people  the  elementary 
virtues  they  practiced,  and  he  enforced  them  in  the 
lands  under  his  law.    Much  later  only  did  these  vir- 


*'  See  E.  Westermarck :   The  Origin  and  Development  of 
Moral  Ideas. 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  41 

I 
tues  appear  in  the  judgment  of  Osiris  as  conditions 
of  admission  to  a  happy  life  beyond  death. 

Similarly  the  Babylonians,  the  Greeks,  and  the 
Hebrews,  centuries  before  the  appearance  of  moral 
considerations  in  their  conception  of  immortality, 
were  alive  to  the  importance  of  "  righteousness." 
Little  by  little,  out  of  the  pains  and  the  joys  of 
earthly  existence,  moral  values  won  recognition. 
Then,  and  then  only,  did  it  occur  to  Yahweh  to  pre- 
fer justice  and  benevolence  to  the  slaughter  of  sac- 
rificial bullocks ;  then  only  did  he  cease  to  punish  the 
innocent  with  the  guilty.  We  shall  see  in  a  subse- 
quent chapter  how  from  the  moment  Yahweh  was 
supposed  to  hold  each  individual  responsible  for  his 
own  deeds,  the  idea  of  the  insufficiency  of  this 
earthly  life  in  order  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  jus- 
tice came  to  the  front  and  prepared  the  way  for  the 
new  immortality. 

The  notion  of  immortality,  like  that  of  gods,  be- 
came gradually  a  pedagogical  device  in  the  interest 
of  social  and  individual  morality.  That  is  why  in 
the  heaven  and  the  hell  described  by  the  ethical  re- 
ligions there  is  no  parity  between  the  reward  and 
the  virtue  of  the  rewarded,  or  between  the  punish- 
ment and  the  guilt  of  the  punished ;  all  are  rewarded 
or  punished  alike.  In  a  judgment  founded  exclu- 
sively on  the  demands  of  justice,  an  eternity  of  bliss 
and  an  eternity  of  torture  would  be  allotted  to  no 


42  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

one.  If,  however,  to  an  imperfect  sense  of  justice 
be  added  a  desire  to  act  as  powerfully  as  possible 
upon  the  living,  both  to  encourage  them  to  do  good 
and  to  deter  them  from  doing  evil,  then  the  current 
notions  of  heaven  and  of  hell  may  come  into  exist- 
ence. It  is,  of  course,  unnecessary  to  suppose  that 
in  the  formation  of  these  conceptions  man  worked 
with  a  fully  conscious  purpose. 

Present  knowledge  regarding  the  relation  of  ethics 
to  religion  contradicts  both  the  opinions  we  have 
quoted:  morality  is  not  derived  from  religion;  and 
religion  is  not  in  contradiction  with  morality. 
Rather  must  we  say  that  morality  begins  in  human 
social  relations,  and  passes  from  them  to  the  rela- 
tions maintained  with  the  other  life  and  with  the 
gods.  Or,  if  one  prefers  to  consider  ghosts  and  gods 
as  inseparable  elements  of  the  primary  social  organ- 
ism, then  we  should  say  that  morality  is  born  in  that 
all-embracing  psychical  atmosphere.  But  it  does  not 
follow  from  that  fact  that  the  rise  and  development 
of  morality  are  conditioned  by  belief  in  gods  and  in 
immortality.  Merely  human  relations  are  sufficient 
to  the  production  of  ethical  appreciations.  The  in- 
visible ghosts  and  gods  would  never  have  been 
thought  interested  in  the  morality  of  the  tribe,  had 
not  the  leaders  realized  the  importance  of  courage, 
of  loyalty,  of  respect  for  neighbors'  possessions,  and 
of  the  other  elementary  virtues.  It  was  when  the  dis- 
astrous consequence  of  their  absence  became  evident 
that  the  gods  were  made  to  sanction  these  virtues. 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  43 

I  conjecture  that  God  or  no  God,  immortality  or  no 
immortality,  the  essential  morality  of  man  would 
have  been  little  different  from  what  it  is/' 


'  *'  It  may  happen  that  a  tribal  god  falls  below  the  ideal  of 
a  chief  Miss  Kingsley  in  a  description  of  the  very  mterest- 
fnfreatons  maintained  by  a  chief  of  the  west  coast  of 
Africa  with  hi?  god,  reports  that  to  her  oft  repeated  ques- 
tion "  Is  he  good?"  a  negative  answer  was  regularly  given 
bv  the  natives!  except  when  they  had  been  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  missionaries.  "  No,"  they  say  firmly,  ^e  ^^  ^^^ 
that  vou  call  good;  he  lets  things  go  too  much,  he  cares  about 
hir^seH  only  "  And  she  adds,  "  I  have  heard  him  called  lazy 
to?  much  bad  person  for  business,'  and  a  dozen  things  of 
that  sort "  Mary  H.  Kingsley:  The  Forms  of  Apparition  m 
wtt  Africa,  Proc.  of  Soc.  for  Psychical  Research,  Vol.  XIV; 
1898;  pages  334,  335.  . 

Thi<;  cod  like  the  god  to  whom  contemporary  Christians 
priy  for  rlin  and  sunfhine,  whom  they  supplicate  for  help  in 
^ar!  and  thank  for  bloody  successes,  has  not  kept  pace  with 
the  standards  of  the  best  among  those  who  worship  him. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  GHOST-IDEA,  AND  THE 

DIFFERENTIATION  OF  THE  GHOST 

FROM  THE  SOUL 

I.     THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  GHOST  IDEA. 

The  descriptions  of  the  preceding  chapter  bring 
out  in  high  relief  two  characteristic  traits  of  the 
belief  '  in  survival,  (a)  Continuation  is  as  firmly 
held  among  savages  as  the  belief  in  the  existence  of 
any  object  perceived  by  the  senses,  (b)  The  savage 
concerns  himself  but  little  with  his  own  fate.  His 
belief  in  continuation  expresses  itself  chiefly  in  a 
concern  for  the  action  of  ghosts  upon  him  while  he 
is  in  this  world. 

These  two  traits  seem  to  indicate  that  the  belief 
in  continuation  is  not  born  of  a  desire  for  it ;  for  in- 
stance, to  the  realization  of  the  briefness  and  incom- 
pleteness of  this  life;  or  to  an  instinctive  recoil  be- 
fore annihilation  at  death,  but,  rather,  that  it  is  im- 
posed upon  the  believer,  independently  of  his  wishes, 
just  as  the  belief  in  the  existence  of  dangerous  ani- 
mals lurking  in  the  nearby  forest. 

'  It  was  hardly  possible  for  me,  when  speaking  of  con- 
tinuation after  death,  always  to  use  the  terms  "  idea,"  "  con- 
ception," and  "  belief "  according  to  strict  psychological 
usage.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  as  soon  as  the  conception  of 
continuation  dawned  upon  the  savage,  it  was  accepted,  acted 
upon,  as  if  it  corresponded  to  an  external  reality.  So  that, 
for  the  savage,  it  never  was  a  mere  conception,  but  always 
a  belief. 

44 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  45 

It  is  obvious  that  a  sensory  demonstration,  wit- 
nessed by  every  one,  of  the  existence  of  ghosts  would 
produce  a  belief  possessing  the  universality  and  the 
firmness  actually  belonging  to  that  belief;  whereas 
an  inference,  whether  from  objective  facts  or  from 
subjective  experiences,  might  not  present  these  char- 
acteristics. And  it  is  equally  obvious  that  had  the 
belief  been  in  any  substantial  degree  the  product  of 
desire,  it  would  have  been  conceived  so  as  to  gratify 
the  desire,  or  desires,  from  which  it  had  sprung. 

To  these  theoretical  remarks  upon  the  most  prob- 
able kind  of  origin  of  the  ghost-conception,  should 
be  added  that  to  infer  from  any  sort  of  fact  the 
existence  of  objects  not  perceived  by  the  senses,  in- 
volves mental  processes  of  a  higher  order  than  direct 
perception,  whether  illusory  or  real.  To  have 
evolved  the  ghost-idea  because,  for  instance,  of  a  dis- 
content with  destruction  at  death,  would  imply  a 
creative  activity  greatly  superior  to  the  one  in- 
volved in  mistaking  a  mental  image  for  an  objective 
reality. 

The  proclivity  of  untutored  man  to  personify  nat- 
ural phenomena  is  well  known.    The  savage  clothes 
in  a  more  or  less  definite  human  or  animal  shape  the 
power  of  the   cloud,   the  wind,   the  thunder,   the 
stream,  the  cataracts,  etc.    As  a  consequence  of  this 
proneness,  he  lives  surrounded  by  a  world  of  usually 
invisible  agents  conceived  in  the  likenes  of  man  or  of 
animals.    This  we  know.    But  we  are  not  completely 
informed  regarding  the  moment  when  this  person- 
ification of  nature  began.    We  possess  no  fact  that 
would  enable  us  conclusively  to  place  the  time  of  the 


46  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

appearance  of  that  mental  habit  with  reference  to 
the  appearance  of  the  belief  in  survival  after  death 
in  the  form  of  ghosts.  The  probability  is,  however, 
that  personification  of  the  more  striking  natural 
phenomena  preceded  the  ghost-belief.  For,  the  for- 
mer lies  nearer  at  hand  than  the  latter.  How  easy 
and  natural  it  is  to  personify  forces,  physical,  is 
made  evident  by  the  behavior  of  children.  Hardly 
have  they  begun  to  talk,  when  they  ask  after  the 
cause  of  the  manifestations  of  power  they  observe. 
A  very  early  solution  of  the  problem  takes  the  form 
of  the  personification  of  the  power :  it  is  a  bear  that 
made  the  noise  heard  in  the  dark  room.' 

It  is  not  at  all  necessary  to  the  validity  of  the 
theory  of  the  origin  of  the  belief  in  ghosts  we  are 
about  to  set  forth,  that  that  belief  should  have  been 
preceded  by  the  personification  of  nature.  Should 
it  have  been  so,  however,  the  belief  in  ghosts  would 
have  arisen  more  readily,  since  man  would  have  been 
already  familiar  with  the  invisible  existence  about 
him  of  man-like  agents.  Our  problem  is  in  any  case 
substantially  different  from  that  of  the  origin  of 
the  personification  of  natural  forces.  We  are  to 
account  for  the  conviction  that,  after  death,  human 
beings  continue  to  exist  in  a  form  and  with  habits 
similar  to  those  that  were  his  before  death,  even 
though  the  body  decomposes  and  falls  to  pieces. 

With  these  introductory  considerations  in  mind, 
let  us  ask,  "  What  is,  or  what  are  the  probable 


*  I  do  not  imply  here  that  animism  was,  as  E.  B.  Tylor 
maintained,  the  first  philosophy,  but  merely  that  personifica- 
tion was  a  very  early  process  indeed.  On  the  question  of 
animism  and  primitive  dynamism,  see  chapter  four  of  A 
Psychological  Study  of  Religion. 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  47 

sources  of  the  conception  of  survival  after  death?  " 
Are  there  not  striking  and  frequent  experiences  of 
a  perceptual  character,  belonging  to  all  or  to  most 
men  however  primitive,  v^hich  v^ould  provide  both 
the  ghost-conception  itself  and  the  demonstration 
of  its  objective  truth? 

MEMORY-IMAGES    EXTERIORIZED    UNDER   THE 
INFLUENCE  OF  EMOTION 

Let  us  try  to  place  ourselves  in  the  situation  of 
primitive  man  when  in  the  presence  of  death  and  of 
the  corpse.  The  simplest  possible  reaction  to  that 
situation  does  certainly  not  involve  the  thought  that, 
somehow  or  other,  there  is,  besides  the  visible  corpse, 
a  something  else,  invisible,  capable  of  acting  like  a 
human  person  and  genetically  connected  with  the 
dead  person.  The  simplest  reaction  is  that  of  the 
animal  who  betrays  in  his  behavior  no  such  belief. 
It  is,  however,  greatly  doubtful  that  this  simplest 
attitude  ever  could  have  been  that  of  man. 

When  the  dead  was  a  person  of  mark — it  does 
not  much  matter  in  what  way — there  remained  a 
vivid  memory  of  him.  May  not  the  chief,  the  war- 
rior, the  trusted  comrade,  have  appeared  at  times  to 
the  mind's  eye  in  concrete  situations  full  of  emo- 
tional quality  ?  And  may  not  these  experiences  have 
been  vivid  enough  to  call  forth  overt  reactions,  a 
cry,  a  word,  a  movement  of  the  hand  or  of  the  whole 
body?  Any  one  who  dreams  in  sleep,  may  dream 
when  awake.  We  know  enough  of  the  savage  and 
of  the  young  child  to  afRrm  that  they  are  at  times 
moved  by  revived  past  experiences  or  by  creations 


48  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

of  their  fancy.    May  not  the  belief  in  survival  have 
had  this  origin. 

I  am  not  asking  whether  ordinary  memory-images 
could  have  sufficed  to  produce  the  belief  in  continu- 
tion.  Still  less  am  I  supposing  that  the  savage 
usually  confuses  his  idea  of  an  object  v^ith  the  object 
itself,  that  he  fails  to  discriminate  between  the  thing 
thought  of  and  the  thing  itself.  To  systematically 
mistake  the  thing  thought  of  for  one  actually  pres- 
ent to  the  senses,  would  be  to  fail  in  that  which  is  a 
primary  condition  of  existence.  A  being  who  should 
usually  suffer  from  that  confusion  could  have  had 
but  the  briefest  of  existence.  The  very  function  of 
memory-images,  the  usefulnes  to  which  they  owe 
their  existence,  involves  this  discrimination.  That 
which  I  suggest  is  that  under  specific  conditions, 
for  instance  death  and  the  presence  of  the  corpse, 
memory-images  may  be  so  vivified  as  to  be  taken 
for  external  realties. 

THE  "  SENSE  OF  PRESENCE  '' 

Even  in  the  absence  of  perception  by  any  one  or 
several  of  the  five  senses,  an  irresistible  '*  sense ''  of 
the  presence  of  some  one  may  be  experienced.  Hal- 
lucinations of  this  kind  form  a  class  by  themselves, 
instances  of  which  may  be  found  in  religious  biog- 
raphies and  in  the  Reports  of  the  Society  for 
Psychical  Research.  I  do  not  know  that  any  atten- 
tion has  been  paid  them  in  connection  with  the  origin 
of  the  belief  in  survival  after  death.  A  classical 
instance  of  this  type  of  hallucination  is  provided  by 
St.  Theresa.'    She  relates  that  in  1559  she  had  for 


Autobiography.     Chapter  XXV. 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  49 

the  first  time  the  "  sensation  of  the  presence  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ."  Subsequently,  she  became  fa- 
miliar with  hallucinatory-images  (pseudo-hallucina- 
tions) and  hallucinations.  At  first,  however,  none 
of  the  five  senses  were  involved.  She  tells  us  that 
she  saw  Christ  neither  with  the  eyes  of  the  body, 
nor  with  those  of  the  soul.  By  this  she  means  that 
her  experience  involved  neither  visual  perception  nor 
visual  image.  Yet,  it  was  a  specific  and  convincing 
experience  of  the  presence  of  Christ,  not  to  be  as- 
similated with  the  mere  thought  of  some  one's  pres- 
ence. 

Experiences  of  this  sort,  though  rare,  come  to 
most  of  us  in  our  religious  life  or  outside  of  it.  I 
have  collected  a  considerable  number  of  spontaneous 
instances  of  them,  and  produced  others  experimen- 
tally for  a  psychological  study  of  prayer.  The  fol- 
lowing is  related  by  a  trustworthy  person. 

"  It  was  evening.  I  was  in  my  room  upstairs, 
dressing,  in  order  to  join  the  family  waiting  for  me 
downstairs.  I  could  hear  plainly  the  voice  of  my 
brother  talking  in  the  sitting-room.  The  electric 
lights  were  up  in  my  room,  the  door  of  which  was 
open.  Suddenly,  I  was  aware  of  the  presence  of  my 
sister  back  of  me.  I  had  neither  seen  nor  heard  her 
come  in.  I  spoke  to  her.  As  she  did  not  answer, 
I  turned  round.  I  was  alone  in  my  room.  I  never 
was  so  surprised  in  my  life,  for  I  felt  as  certain  that 
she  was  there,  as  if  I  had  seen  her  in  the  clearest 
of  light.  I  remained  for  some  time  thrilled  and 
dazed ;  it  took  me  some  time  to  regain  my  composure. 
I  did  not  say  anything  to  the  family,  because  I 
thought  they  would  make  fun  of  me." 


50  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

The  characteristics  of  the  sense  of  presence  to 
which  attentions  should  be  paid  are,  (1)  the  absence 
not  only  of  the  ordinary  sensory  indications  of  the 
presence  of  a  person,  but  also,  at  least  initially,  of 
any  illusion  of  sight,  sound,  or  touch;  (2)  neverthe- 
less, the  conviction  of  presence  possesses  the  con- 
creteness  belonging  to  actual  perception.  In  this,  it 
separates  itself  clearly  from  the  kind  of  assurance 
due  to  inference,  as  when  from  the  movement  of  a 
light  across  the  windows  of  a  house,  the  presence  of 
a  person  in  it  is  inferred. 

Whence  this  mastering  sense  of  external  reality 
in  the  absence  of  the  ordinary  perceptions?  With- 
out entering  here  into  a  long  psychological  explana- 
tion, we  may  say  that  the  essential  constituents  of 
the  experience  of  the  presence  of  a  person,  in  a  case 
of  ordinary  perception,  are  neither  sight,  nor  sound, 
not  even  touch ;  but  the  very  complex  sensory-motor 
activities  which  commonly  follow  upon  these  per- 
ceptions. When  we  see  some  one,  and  "  feel "  his 
presence,  our  whole  psycho-physical  attitude  is  mod- 
ified; the  facial  and  bodily  expressions  are  altered, 
feelings  and  emotions  are  generated — feelings  and 
emotions  which  differ  with  the  person  in  the  presence 
of  whom  we  are  —  and,  in  addition,  thought  is  given 
a  new  direction;  it  centers  now  about  our  relations 
with  the  person  of  the  presence  of  whom  we  are 
aware.  Unless  these  various,  highly  complex  activ- 
ities are  set  up,  the  actual  perception  of  the  person 
does  not  produce  the  particular  experience  described 
here  by  the  phrase  "  sense  of  presence  " ;  there  is  in- 
stead merely  an  awareness  of  a  presence,  without  the 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  51 

warm  sense  of  reality  which  belongs  to  it  when  upon 
sight  follows  the  multiple  reactions  I  have  indicated. 
The  mere  seeing  a  person  to  whom  we  are  indifferent, 
who  does  not  "  get  hold  '"  of  us;  and  that  which  hap- 
pens to  the  school-boy  in  the  presence  of  his  master, 
to  the  lover  descrying  the  beloved,  or  to  the  mother 
hearing  the  voice  of  her  child,  are  experiences  clearly 
different ;  the  latter  usually  include  the  sense,  or  feel- 
ing of  a  presence ;  the  former  does  not,  it  is  merely 
a  knowledge  of  a  presence.  The  sophisticated  per- 
son himself  cannot,  while  the  experience  is  upon  him, 
resist  the  sense  of  presence,  although,  afterwards,  he 
may  call  it  an  hallucination. 

This  psychological  explanation  affirms,  in  short, 
that  the  sense  of  presence  is  conditioned  essentially 
not  by  the  report  of  any  or  all  of  the  five  senses. 
but  by  reaction-processes  which  take  place  when  we 
are  in  the  presence  of  a  person  who  does  not  leave  us 
cold.  The  visual  or  other  external  sensations  which 
comimonly  initiate  these  essential  responses  are.  ac- 
cording to  the  theory,  not  the  only  possible  de- 
terminants of  these  reactions ;  they  may  be  otherwise 
initiated. 

But,  whether  this  theory  be  adequate  or  not.  the 
fact  itself  is  not  to  be  questioned :  there  are  those 
among  us  who,  under  the  conditions  I  have  de- 
scribed, have  vivid  experiences  of  the  presence  of 
absent  persons.  If  we  may  asume  that  original 
man  was  subject  to  experiences  of  this  sort,  their 
bearing  upon  the  origin  of  the  belief  in  continuation 
after  death  is  obvious.    As  to  the  probability  of  that 


52  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

assumption,  I  can  only  say  that  I  know  of  no  rea- 
son that  would  discredit  it. 

I  have  attempted  to  show  that  the  memory-image, 
or,  in  the  absence  of  an  image,  the  idea  of  a  dead  per- 
son is  vitalized  into  an  irresistible  sense  of  presence 
whenever  the  reactions  which  are  the  essential  con- 
ditions of  that  experience  are  produced.  I  have 
also  suggested  that  death  and  the  presence  of  the 
corpse  are  circumstances  which  may  bring  about 
this  result.  The  experiences  of  the  type  I  have 
described  under  the  name  "  sense  of  presence  "  dem- 
onstrate, furthermore,  that  obscure  circumstances 
may,  in  the  absence  of  any  of  the  causes  we  should 
naturally  look  for,  lead  to  the  realization  of  the  con- 
ditions of  the  feeling  of  the  presence  of  a  person  not 
bodily  present.  That  the  ghost-belief  may  have 
been  due  to  this  class  of  experience,  will  appear  the 
more  probable  when  it  is  observed  that  it  involves 
only  the  simplest  mental  operations. 

DREAMS 

In  his  epoch-making  work,  Primitive  Culture,*  Ed- 
ward B.  Tylor  derives  the  belief  in  ghosts  and  spirits 


*  PriTnitive  Culture.     Vol.  I.  Chapter  XI. 

We  read  in  Hobbes'  Leviathan,  "  And  for  the  matter,  or 
substance  of  the  Invisible  Agents,  so  fancied,  they  could  not 
by  natural  cogitation,  fall  upon  any  other  conceit,  but  that 
it  was  the  same  with  that  of  the  Soule  of  man;  and  that  the 
Soule  of  man  was  of  the  same  substance  with  that  which 
appeareth  in  a  Dream,  to  one  that  sleepeth ;  or  in  a  Looking- 
glasse,  to  one  that  is  awake;  which,  men  not  knowing  that 
such  apparitions  are  nothing  else  but  creatures  of  the  Fancy, 
think  to  be  real  and  external  Substances;  and  therefore  call 
them  Ghosts." 

This  passage  is  sometimes  misunderstood.  The  preceding 
paragraph  makes  it  clear  that  Hobbes  does  not  affirm  that 
dreams  are  the  cause  of  the  idea  of  invisible  agents.    Dreams 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  53 

from  dreams  and  trances.  After  having  enjoyed 
for  several  decades  unquestioned  assent,  objections 
are  now  raised  against  that  theory,  and  efforts  are 
made  to  replace  it  by  other  theories. 

It  is  sometimes  affirmed  as  an  objection  to  the 
dream  origin  of  the  ghost-idea,  that  children  regard 
dreaming  as  a  matter  of  course,  that  they  realize  the 
difference  between  dreams  and  waking,  and  that 
**  there  is  no  case  on  record  of  a  child  inferring  from 
dreams  the  existence  of  a  soul,  or  of  a  reality  differ- 
ent from  the  phenomenal."  '  It  is  no  doubt  true 
that  children  take  dreams  as  something  natural,  and 
that  usually  they  do  not  regard  them  as  realities; 
but  it  does  not  follow  from  this  that  they  never  do 
so.  The  child-study  literature  provides  sufficient  ex- 
amples of  children  who.  when  awake,  behave  for  a 
while  as  if  they  expected  to  encounter  the  objects 
of  their  dreams. 

I  do  not  think  that  the  so-called  ''  make  believe  " 
plays  of  imaginative  children  would  bear  out  the 
statement  that  they  never  believe  in  the  reality  of 
the  creations  of  their  fancy.     That  which  is  true, 


gave  merely,  as  he  puts  it,  the  "  matter,  or  substance  of  the 
idea  of  Invisible  Agents."  The  idea  itself  originated  from 
the  "  perpetual  fear,  always  accompanying  mankind  in  the 
ignorance  of  causes."  This  fear  '*  must  needs  have  for  object 
something.  And  therefore  when  there  is  nothing  to  be  seen, 
there  is  nothing  to  accuse,  either  of  their  good,  or  evil  for- 
tune, but  some  Power  or  Agent  invisible." 

Leviathan,  ed.     A.  R.  Waller;  1904.     Chapter  XII,  page  71. 

Cicero  speaks  of  apparitions  in  dreams,  if  not  as  the  origin 
of  the  belief,  at  least  as  the  chief  cause  of  its  persistence  and 
extension.  See  Gaston  Boissier:  La  Religion  Romaine 
d'Auguste  aux  AntoniJis:  Paris;  Hachette;  1878.  Vol.  I,  page 
265. 

'Ernest  Crawley:  The  Idea  of  the  Soul:  London;  A.  and 
C.  Black,  1909.     Pages  13-14. 


54  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

is  that  their  belief  is  fleeting.  This  is  probably 
sufficiently  accounted  for  by  the  attitude  of  the  adult 
towards  these  dreams  and  fancies:  he  denies  them, 
in  words  and  actions.  What  we  know  of  children, 
leads  rather  to  the  opinion  that  were  a  company  of 
them,  including  some  of  the  imaginative  ones,  left  to 
themselves,  they  would  probably  develop  a  belief  in 
invisible  things  and  enter  into  some  kind  of  rela- 
tion with  them. 

We  are  in  the  habit  of  separating  sharply  the  per- 
ceptions of  waking  life  from  dreams ;  to  the  former 
only  do  we  ascribe  objective  reality.  For  the  sav- 
age, however,  dreams  and  visions  are  equally  real 
with  waking  perceptions.  Spencer  and  Gillen  "  tell 
us  that  "  what  a  savage  experiences  during  a  dream 
is  just  as  real  to  him  as  what  he  sees  when  he  is 
awake.  The  natives  have  a  very  definite  conception 
of  the  spirit  part  of  an  individual,  and  imagine  that 
during  sleep  it  can  and  does  wander  about  freely." 
A  Cherokee  Indian  who  has  dreamt  that  he  was  bit- 
ten by  a  snake-ghost,  must  follow  the  same  treat- 
ment as  if  he  had  been  bitten  by  a  snake  when  awake, 
otherwise  the  place  would  swell  and  ulcerate,  per- 
haps immediately  or  even  years  afterwards.'  Sir 
Everard  im  Thurn  relates  the  following  incident : 

''  One  morning,  when  it  was  important  to  me  to 
get  away  from  camp  on  the  Essequibo  River  at  which 
I  had  been  detained  for  some  days  by  the  illness  of 
some  of  my  Indian  companions,  I  found  that  one  of 


'  The  Northern  Tribes  of  Central  Australia:  London;  Mac- 
millan;   1904.     Page  451. 

^  James  Mooney :  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  EthnoL,  1897-98, 
XIX;  page  295. 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  55 

the  invalids,  a  young  Macusi.  though  better  in  health, 
was  so  enraged  against  me  that  he  refused  to  stir, 
for  he  declared  that,  with  great  want  of  considera- 
tion for  his  weak  health,  I  had  taken  him  out  during 
the  night  and  had  made  him  haul  the  canoe  up  a 
series  of  difficult  cataracts.  Nothing  could  persuade 
him  that  this  was  a  dream,  and  it  was  some  time  be- 
fore he  was  so  far  pacified  as  to  throw  himself  sulk- 
ily in  the  bottom  of  the  canoe.  At  that  time  we 
were  all  suffering  from  a  great  scarcity  of  food.  and. 
hunger  having  its  usual  effect  in  producing  \i\id 
dreams,  similar  effects  frequently  occurred.  More 
than  once  the  men  declared  in  the  morning  that  some 
absent  men,  whom  they  named,  had  come  during  the 
night,  and  had  beaten  or  otherwise  maltreated  them : 
and  they  insisted  on  much  rubbing  of  the  bruised 
parts  of  their  bodies."  ' 

No  one  acquainted  with  primitive  peoples  has  ever 
denied  that  they  give  to  dreams  and  visions  the  in- 
terpretation I  have  illustrated.  But  belief  in  the 
objective  reality  of  dreams  and  \isions  does  not 
necessarily  imply  that  the  conception  of  ghost  arose 
from  these  experiences.  The  belief  in  the  reality 
of  dreams  might  be  a  consequence  of  these  ideas, 
instead  of  their  cause.  Such  is  the  opinion  of  Durk- 
heim.  But  his  attack  upon  the  accepted  theory  '  — 
presumably  the  strongest  that  can  be  made — fails 
altogether  to  show  the  inadequacy  of  that  theory-  to 
account  for  the  production  of  the  idea  of,  and  of 


■  Quoted  by  Edward  Clodd  in  Anijuisyn:  Loyidoyw  Archibald 
Constable  and  Company;  1905.  Pages  31-32,  from  The  Vi- 
dians of  Guiana, 

'  Loc.  cit.,  pages  78-91,  382-386. 


56  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

the  belief  in  survival  after  death.  I  submit  in  small 
print  Durkheim's  animadversions  and  my  own  coun- 
ter criticism. 

1.  The  belief  in  souls  or  ghosts  is  not  the  simplest  way 
to  account  for  dreams  and  visions.  Why  should  not  man 
instead  have  imagined  that  he  could  see  at  a  distance 
through  all  kinds  of  obstacles?  This  is  a  simpler  idea  than 
that  of  a  double  made  of  a  semi-invisible,  ethereal  substance. 

This  explanation  might  be  the  simpler  one  if,  in  dreams, 
the  person  dreamt  of  and  the  dreamer  himself  were  not  so 
often  together.  When  they  are  both  in  the  same  hut,  or  at 
the  foot  of  the  same  tree,  will  the  assumption  of  sight 
through  an  obstacle  be  pertinent?  Certainly  dreams  of  this 
description  will  require  another  explanation. 

2.  Many  dreams  are  refractory  to  the  ghost-interpreta- 
tion; for  instance,  dreams  of  things  that  we  have  done  in 
the  past.  The  double  might  transport  himself  into  the  fu- 
ture, but  how  could  he  live  over  again  the  past  existence  of 
the  body  to  which  he  belonged?  How  could  a  man  when 
awake  really  believe  that  he  has  taken  part  in  events  which 
he  knows  to  have  taken  place  long  ago?  It  is  much  more 
natural  that  he  should  think  of  memories  since  these  at  least 
are  familiar  to  him. 

It  is  not  at  all  necessary  that  the  ghost-theory  should  fit 
all  dreams.  Certain  dreams  might  remain  a  mystery,  or 
be  explained  otherwise  than  by  the  existence  of  souls, —  as 
memories,  for  instance.  I  do  not  know  whether  as  a  matter 
of  fact  the  savage  does  this.  But  whether  he  does  or  not, 
it  is  evident  that  a  great  many  dreams  could  not  possibly 
be  explained  by  him  as  recollections. 

3.  How  could  the  savage  be  so  stupid  and  non-inquisitive 
as  not  to  be  impressed  by  the  fact  that  the  person  whose 
alleged  double  has  conversed  with  his  own  double  while  he 
slept,  had  also  had  dreams  that  same  night  and  was  another 
person  than  his  own  double?  There  is,  thinks  Durkheim, 
some  naivete  in  the  blind  credulity  ascribed  to  primitive  man 
by  this  theory. 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  57 

The  naivete  thus  attributed  to  the  savage  does  not  seem 
to  be  excessive.  Certain  beliefs  of  some  of  our  contempo- 
raries are  almost  as  childish.  For  the  rest,  this  objection 
does  not  refer  to  ghosts  surviving  after  death,  but  only  to 
"  doubles  "  able  to  leave  the  body  during  sleep. 

4  Even  though  the  ghost-explanation  should  be  suffi- 
cient to  account  for  all  dreams,  it  would  remain  unlikely 
that  man  ever  sought  so  early  for  an  explanation  of  his 
dreams;  they  are  too  infrequent,  and  too  ^^^^f^^'^^^^l^ 
produced  "  a  system  of  belief  as  important  as  that  of  sur- 
vival after  death.  They  may  at  best  have  served  to  confirm 
the  idea,  when  once  in  existence."  "  What  is  dreaming  to  us? 
How  small  a  place  it  holds  ...  and  how  surprismg  it  is 
that  the  unfortunate  Australian  spends  so  much  energy  m 
evolving  a  theory  of  it." 

To  this  last  objection,  I  answer  that  in  order  to  occasion 
the  belief  in  ghosts,  it  is  not  necessary  that  ever^  indmdu^^^ 
should    frequently    have    startling   dreams.      Often    enough 
dreams  are  so  vivid  and  so  painful,  or  so  elating,  that  I  do 
not  see  how  they  could  escape  the  attention  of  the  savage 
when  he  wakes  from  them.    When,  in  addition  to  possessing 
an  intense  emotional  quality,  they   happen  to  be  violent  y 
contradicted  by  some  experience  of  waking  life  immediate  y 
following,  it  seems  inadmissable  that  an  explanation  should 
not  be  sought.     Suppose,  for  instance,  that  a  savage  feeling 
in   a    dream   the    hands    of   his   enemy    around   his    throat, 
awakens  as  he  plunges  his  knife  through  his  enemy  s  heart. 
Imagine  further  that  as  he  rises  panting,  there,   close   to 
him,  stands  whole  and  hearty,  the  enemy  he  has  just  killed. 
Under  these  circumstances,  most  savages  would  be  conscious 
of  a  riddle,  would  feel  the  need  of  an  explanation;   and  at 
least  some  of  them  might,  it  seems  to  me,  accept  the  actual 
existence  of  a  "  double."    From  that  to  the  essential  elements 
of  the  ghost  theory,  the  steps  are  easy  enough  for  primitive 
man  to  take. 

To  Durkheim's  statement  that  there  is  a  marked  dispro- 
portion between  the  effect  of  the  ghost-idea  and  its  cause, 
when  that  cause  is  supposed  to  be  dreams^  this  answer  is 


58  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 


sufficient;  circumstances  favoring,  insignificant  causes  may 
produce  gigantic  effects.  Once  in  existence,  the  idea  of  sur- 
vival was  the  more  likely  to  spread  and  to  grow  deep  roots 
in  that  it  was  a  marvelously  interesting  idea  and  that  its 
field  of  usefulness  as  a  principle  of  explanation  was  not 
limited  to  dreams  and  visions.  If  ghosts  exist,  then  a  host 
of  facts  may  be  explained:  ghosts  bring  them  about!  What 
idea  could  be  better  fitted  to  captivate  the  imagination  and 
to  stir  credulous  persons  to  their  depths  than  that  of  the 
active  presence  about  them  of  those  who  were  their  com- 
panions or  predecessors  on  earth? 

VISIONS 
To  dreams  must  be  added  the  visions  of  waking 
life,  of  fever,  and  of  other  abnormal  conditions. 
The  mentally  sound  savage  is  not  less,  but  more 
subject  to  visions  than  the  sound-minded  civilized 
man.  The  hallucinations  of  waking  life  are,  on  the 
whole,  more  startling  than  dreams  in  their  effect 
upon  the  seer.  This,  for  the  very  reason  that  they 
take  place  during  the  waking  life ;  that  circumstance 
brings  them  in  closer  connection  with  the  waking 
consciousness,  and  makes  it  more  difficult  to  ignore 
them  or  to  dismiss  them  as  irrelevant.  To  the  wit- 
nesses, the  dramatic  behavior  of  the  hallucinated 
may  convey,  more  vividly  and  irresistibly  than  a 
verbal  account,  a  sense  of  invisible  presences. 

It  is  well  known  that  persons  of  great  mental  dis- 
tinction and  ability,  as  well  as  commonplace  ones, 
have  been  favored  by  or  plagued  with  visions  of  such 
vividness  and  convincingness  that  they  have  not 
been  able  to  escape  belief  in  their  reality.  In  many 
instances  such  visions  have  played  a  determining 
role  in  great  social  movements,  particularly  in  re- 
ligions. 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  59 

The  savage  is  not  so  well  equipped  as  the  civilized 
to  resist  the  intrinsic  claims  of  visions  to  authentic- 
ity. The  profound  influence  which  a  gifted  sav- 
age, suffering  from  occasional  hallucinations,  might 
exercise  upon  his  contemporaries,  can  hardly  be 
overestimated.  It  is,  I  think,  one  of  the  errors  of 
anthropologists  not  to  have  taken  sufficiently  into 
account,  when  tracing  origins,  the  unusual  person, 
the  genius.  For,  among  savages  also  there  are 
leaders,  originators;  and  their  function  is  no  less 
considerable  than  among  us.  The  recognition,  un- 
der which  we  are  now  in  some  respects  suffering,  of 
the  fundamental  social  nature  of  man  and  of  his 
profound  and  multiple  dependence  upon  his  physical 
and  psychical  environment,  accounts  probably  for  a 
degree  of  blindness  to  individual  achievements  in 
social  development.  Among  savages,  as  among  us, 
and  in  the  same  sense  as  among  us,  general  beliefs 
have  had  individual  origins. 

The  visions  of  waking  life  are,  it  is  true,  unusual 
experiences,  unknown  to  the  great  majority  of  civi- 
lized beings ;  but  they  are  far  more  frequent  among 
the  ignorant,  uncritical,  and  easily  impressed  sav- 
ages. Who  will  venture  to  affirm  that  when  support- 
ed by  the  universal  experience  of  dreams  and  of 
vivid  memory-images,  and  by  the  sense  of  presence, 
no  serious  significance  can  belong  to  visions  in  the 
production  of  the  belief  in  ghosts  because  they  are 
not  common  enough? 

These  four  types  of  related  experiences,  the  ex- 
teriorization of  vivid  memory-images,  the  sense  of 
presence,  dreams,  and  the  visions  of  waking  life,  all 


60  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

possess,  if  in  various  degrees,  the  qualifications  re- 
quired to  lead  to  the  savage's  belief  in  survival  after 
death.  They  are  each  psychologically  equivalent  to 
a  direct  sensory  apprehension  of  survival ;  thus,  they 
do  not  imply  intelligence  of  a  higher  level  than  can 
be  predicated  of  any  one  possessing  speech,  however 
rudimentary.  These  experiences,  furthermore,  all 
point  not  to  a  paradise  promising  the  gratification 
of  universal  desires,  but  to  such  a  lot  as  is  actually 
ascribed  to  the  ghost. 

Are  we  to  hold  that  these  four  related  types  of 
experience,  each  contributed  equally  to  the  formation 
of  the  belief  in  survival  after  death,  or  that  one  or 
several  of  them  were  the  determinant  factors,  and 
that  the  others  served  merely  to  confirm  the  belief? 
To  these  queries  I  cannot  give  any  answer;  and  it 
does  not  seem  to  me  very  important  that  we  should 
be  able  to  answer  them,  it  is  enough  that  we  should 
have  discovered  the  class  of  experiences  from  which 
the  belief  arose.  It  is  not  the  product  of  an  infer- 
ence, it  is  not  an  interpretation,  but  simply  the  con- 
sequence of  a  lack  of  the  ability  to  discriminate  cer- 
tain merely  subjective  experiences  from  the  percep- 
tion of  external  objects. 

The  causes  of  the  idea  of  survival  and  of  belief  in 
it,  set  forth  in  the  preceding  pages,  were  probably 
supplemented  and  the  conception  they  produced 
modified,  by  certain  naive  convictions,  innate  yearn- 
ings, and  by  diverse  observations  which  we  shall 
now  rapidly  consider. 

The  Natural  Endlessness  of  Man. — Among  many 
tribe?  are  found  myths  presupposing  the  natural 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  61 

endlessness  of  man.  Australian  natives  speak  of  an- 
cestors who  never  died.  They  disappeared  from 
view  without  passing  through  death  and  bodily  de- 
composition. A  well  known  Babylonian-Hebraic 
story  explains  the  introduction  of  death  into  the 
world  as  the  consequence  of  the  evil  deeds  of  man. 
In  many  tribes  now  living,  all  forms  of  death  are 
looked  upon  as  the  work  either  of  magic  or  of  spirits. 
These  tribes  are  probably  at  a  lower  level  of  de- 
velopment than  others,  such  as  the  Kafirs  and  the 
Melanesians,  among  whom  a  third  cause  is  known: 
"  natural  "  death.  These  people  *'  make  up  their 
minds  as  the  sickness  comes  whether  it  is  natural 
or  not.  The  more  important  the  individual  who  is 
sick,  the  more  likely  his  sickness  is  to  be  ascribed 
to  the  anger  of  a  ghost  whom  he  has  offended,  or  to 
witchcraft.  No  great  man  would  like  to  be  told 
that  he  was  ill  by  natural  weakness  or  decay."  '' 

Mr.  Dudley  Kidd  tells  us  that  according  to  the  na- 
tives of  South  Africa,  "  to  start  with,  there  is  sick- 
ness which  is  supposed  to  be  caused  by  the  action  of 
ancestral  spirits  or  by  fabulous  monsters.  Secondly, 
there  is  sickness  which  is  caused  by  the  magical  prac- 
tices of  some  evil  person  who  is  using  witchcraft  in 
secret.  Thirdly,  there  is  sickness  which  comes  from 
neither  of  these  causes,  and  remains  unexplained.  It 
is  said  to  be  *only  sickness,  and  nothing  more.'  This 
third  form  of  sickness  is,  I  think,  the  commonest. 
Yet  most  writers  wholly  ignore  it  or  deny  its  exist- 
ence. It  may  happen  that  an  attack  of  indigestion 
is  one  day  attributed  to  the  action  of  witch  or  wiz- 


R.  H.  Codrington:  The  Melanesians;  page  194, 


62  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

ard ;  another  day,  the  trouble  is  put  down  to  the  ac- 
count of  ancestral  spirits;  on  a  third  occasion,  the 
people  may  be  at  a  loss  to  account  for  it,  and  so  may 
dism.iss  the  problem  by  saying  that  it  is  merely  sick- 
ness. It  is  quite  common  to  hear  natives  say  that 
they  are  at  a  loss  to  account  for  some  special  case  of 
illness.  ...  In  some  cases  they  do  not  even  trouble  to 
consult  a  diviner;  they  speedily  recognize  the  sick- 
ness as  due  to  natural  causes.  In  such  a  case  it  needs 
no  explanation.  If  they  think  that  some  friends  of 
theirs  know  of  a  remedy,  they  will  try  it  on  their  own 
initiative,  or  may  even  go  off  to  a  white  man  to  ask 
for  some  of  his  medicine.  .  .  .  The  Kafirs  quite  rec- 
ognize that  there  are  types  of  diesase  which  are  in- 
herited, and  have  not  been  caused  by  magic  or  by 
ancestral  spirits."  ''  There  is  here  the  beginning 
at  least  of  a  recognition  of  what  civilized  man  calls 
''  natural  "  causes. 

We  may  note  in  passing  some  of  the  terrible  con- 
sequences of  the  belief  in  the  magical  cause  of  death. 
In  many  tribes,  deaths  ascribed  to  magic  may  result 
in  the  deaths  of  not  only  one  but  a  dozen  or  more 
suspected  persons  who  are  put  through  a  murderous 
ordeal  supposed  to  be  fatal  to  the  guilty  person  only. 
''  A  French  official  tells  us  that  among  the  Neyaux  of 
the  Ivory  Coast  similar  beliefs  and  practices  are  vis- 
ibly depopulating  the  country,  every  single  natural 
death  causing  the  death  of  four  or  five  persons  by 
the  poison  ordeal,  which  consisted  in  drinking  the 


"  Frazer:  Loc.  cit.;  pages  55,  56.  The  French  anthropolo- 
gists, Durkheim,  Levy-Briihl,  Mauss,  Hubert,  affirm  with- 
out hesitation  the  universality  of  this  belief. 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  63 

decoction  of  a  red  bark  called  by  the  natives  boduni. 
At  the  death  of  a  chief,  fifteen  men  and  women  per- 
ished in  this  way.  The  French  government  had  great 
diflficulty  in  suppressing  the  ordeal ;  for  the  deluded 
natives  firmly  believed  in  the  justice  of  the  test  and 
therefore  submitted  to  it  willingly  in  the  full  con- 
sciousness of  their  innocence."  '* 

These  two  conceptions,  the  idea  of  the  natural 
deathlessness  of  man  and  that  of  continuation  after 
death,  are  of  course  far  from  identical;  the  former, 
which  sees  in  death  the  result  of  accidental  causes,  is 
consistent  with  belief  in  annihilation  at  death;  the 
latter,  which  considers  death  as  an  unavoidable,  nat- 
ural event,  is  consistent  with  the  affirmation  of  the 
continuation  of  life  in  the  face  of  the  starthng  fact 
of  death. 

But  why  should  man  ever  have  imagined  that, 
were  it  not  for  evil  intervention,  he  would  never 
have  known  death?  Because  life  implies  its  own 
continuation.  The  m.ore  intensely  one  lives,  the 
more  difficult  it  is  to  think  of  destruction,  and  the 
more  preposterous  that  idea  seems  when  it  chances  to 
gain  access  to  the  mind.  An  indefinite  idea  of  con- 
tinuation is  implied,  it  seems,  in  the  very  fact  of 
conscious  existence;  for,  to  live  is  to  look  forward. 
\Vhen  this  implicit  assumption  becomes  explicit,  the 
easier  way  of  accounting  for  the  contradiction  in- 
flicted upon  it  by  death  is  to  accuse  some  nefarious 
power  of  having  maliciously  put  an  end  to  that  which 
otherwise  would  have  continued.    But  you  say,  man 

''  Frazer:  Loc.  cit.;  page  52.     Lecture  II  contains  a  selec- 
tion of  savage  practices  regarding  the  causes  of  death. 


64  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

is  born,  grows,  attains  maturity,  and  then  slowly 
and  gradually  decays  until  he  falls  lifeless ;  and  this 
is  true  not  only  of  man  but  of  all  animals  and  plants. 
Is  not  this  a  sufficient  indication  of  the  "  natural- 
ness "  of  death?  Yes,  we  answer,  sufficient  it  is  to 
those  who  have  become  imbued  with  a  scientific  con- 
ception of  life,  not  to  others :  the  Babylonian  who  re- 
lated to  his  children  the  story  of  original  freedom 
from  death  was  still  far  removed  from  that  stage. 

The  myths  that  we  have  mentioned  bring  to  light 
a  natural  aversion  to  a  cessation  of  life ;  an  aversion 
which  is  to  be  regarded  as  an  unavoidable  accom- 
paniment of  the  instinct  of  self-preservation  and  as 
one  of  the  forces  supporting  belief  in  continuation 
after  death  when  once  that  conception  has  taken 
shape. 

The  Influence  of  Death. — Primitive  man,  as  we 
know  him,  lives  too  much  in  the  present  to  be  dis- 
turbed by  fear  of  the  death-crisis,  unless  it  be  im- 
minent, and  then  his  fear,  being  little  more  than  an 
instinctive  recoil,  does  not  probably  lead  him  fur- 
ther. 

To  the  semi-civilized  the  more  profound  and  sig- 
nificant aspect  of  death  arises  either  from  its  mys- 
tery or  from  the  wretchedness  attributed  to  the 
shades  and  the  breaking  of  earthly  ties.  The  dom- 
inant note  of  the  Pyramid  Texts  is  an  "insistent, 
ever  passionate  protest  against  death."  It  expresses 
humanity's  earliest  supreme  revolt  against  the  great 
darkness  and  silence  from  which   none   returns." 

'"J.   H.   Breasted:   Development  of  Religious   Thought  in 
Ancient  Egypt:  New  York;  Scribner;  1912.     Page  91. 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  65 

For  the  civilized  who  have  not  found  peace  in  a  satis- 
fying faith,  it  is  again  the  mystery  beyond  the  grave, 
the  unanswerable  query  of  Hamlet,  which  torments, 
not  the  death-crisis : 

"  To  die, —  to  sleep ; 
To  sleep!  perchance  to  dream;  —  ay,  there's  the  rub; 

For  who  would  bear  the  whips  and  scorns  of  time, 

But  that  the  dread  of  something  after  death. 
The  undiscovered  country,  from  whose  bourn 
No  traveler  returns,  puzzles  the  will; 
And  makes  us  rather  bear  those  ills  we  have, 
Than  fly  to  others  that  we  know  not  of  ?  "  '' 

The  relative  insignificance  of  the  death-crisis  is 
well  shown  by  the  indifference  to  it  of  those  who 
cherish  a  faith  in  a  satisfactory  future  existence. 
To  the  Christian,  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow  of  Death 
is  made  brilliant  by  the  light  streaming  from  the 
heavenly  Jerusalem.  He  exclaims,  '*  0  death,  where 
is  thy  sting?  0  grave  where  is  thy  victory?''  "' 
Long  before  the  advent  of  Christianity,  there  were 
people  who  went  to  their  death  rejoicing  in  the  as- 
surance of  a  land  abounding  in  everything  the  heart 
could  desire.  In  old  Egypt,  the  fear  of  death  had 
been  conquered  by  those  who  believed  in  the  religion 
of  the  Sun-God.  Wiedemann  writes  of  them  that 
they  dwelt  much  and  gladly  on  the  thought  of  death ; 
it  had  no  particular  terror  for  them,  any  more  than 
for  modern  Orientals.  To  them  death  was  no  final 
end  but  only  an  interruption  of  their  existence." 

''Hamlet,  Act  III,  Sc.  1. 
^^I  Cor.,  15:  55. 

'*  Wiedemann:  Loc.  cit.,  page  14. 

One  should  remember  in  this  connection  the  universal  tes- 
timony of  physicians  that,  in  the  words  of  a  noted  surgeon. 


66  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

But  these  remarks  have  no  reference  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  belief  in  continuation  after  death, 
for  we  are  not  at  liberty  to  suppose  that  original 
man  was  tormented  by  Hamlet's  query,  still  less  that 
in  a  transcendent  act  of  creative  imagination  he 
negated  the  work  of  death  by  positing  beyond  the 
grave  another  existence.  This  was  not  within  his 
m.eans.  No  other  proof  that  the  savage's  belief  in 
continuation  did  not  have  this  origin  is  wanted  than 
the  nature  of  his  after-life:  it  is  not  that  which  it 
would  necessarily  have  been,  had  it  arisen  from  the 
desire  for  the  satisfaction  of  moral  cravings. 

Vegetation  a7id  Insect  Metamorphosis. —  The  idea 
of  survival  after  death  is  sometimes  supposed  to  have 
had  its  origin  in  those  well  known  and  very  common 
facts,  the  growth  of  vegetation  from  seeds,  and  the 
metamorphoses  of  insects.  The  grass  dies  in  the 
autumn  and  sprouts  again  in  the  spring,  out  of  the 
nut,  a  tree  germinates;  and  the  grub,  dead  though  it 
seems,  gives  birth  to  a  butterfly.  To  infer  from 
these  and  similar  facts  that  man  continues  after 


the  process  of  dying  is  rarely  painful  or  even  unwelcome 
to  the  patient,  though  full  of  sorrow  to  his  family.  A  happy 
unconsciousness  in  nearly  all  cases  shields  the  dying  man 
from  pain.  The  weakness,  the  fever,  the  parched  lips,  the 
labored  breathing  are  all  unfelt.  Most  people  die  quietly 
and  often  almost  imperceptibly  .  .  .  Even  when  convulsive 
movements  occur,  they  are  entirely  independent  of  conscious- 
ness; merely  physical  in  origin  and  character,  and  absolutely 
unattended  by  any  suffering."  In  the  rare  cases  when  the 
death  bed  is  attended  by  terror,  it  is  due,  we  are  told,  to 
lurid  images  of  a  terrible  hereafter.  Scott  who  questioned 
sixteen  very  old  persons,  reports  that  94  percent,  had  no 
desire  to  live,  and  that  70  per  cent,  longed  to  die. — Colin  A. 
Scott:  Old  Age  and  Death;  Amer.  Jour,  of  Psv..  1896-97 
VIII.     Pages  67-122. 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  67 

death  would  involve  mental  operations  of  a  higher 
order  than  are  those  implied  in  the  false  perceptions 
which,  according  to  the  theory  we  have  accepted, 
produced  the  belief 

Insect  metamorphosis  is  a  fact  known  to  certain 
savages.  Spencer  and  Gillen  describe  a  ceremony 
of  the  witchetty  grub  totem  which  includes  an  imi- 
tation of  the  insect  (maegwa)  just  emerging  from 
the  crysalis.''  The  influence  which  the  observation 
of  insect  metamorphosis  may  have  had  upon  the 
establishment  of  the  belief  in  survival  after  death, 
is,  however,  beyond  our  ken. 

The  sprouting  of  vegetation  from  seeds  is  a  fact 
more  easily  discovered  than  insect  metamorphosis. 
The  savage  is  certainly  interested  in  it.  But  what 
a  step  we  are  expecting  him  to  take,  if  we  suppose 
him  to  think  that  because  seeds  produce  new 
growths,  corpses  produce  ghosts!  The  analogy 
should  lead  him  to  think  rather  that  corpses  produce 
new  men.  Dacotas  and  Esquimaux  bury  bones  ot 
dogs  and  seals,  that  from  them  new  animals  may 
arise;  they  do  not  expect  the  production  of  animal- 
ghosts. 

If  we  could  suppose  that  before  the  idea  of  con- 
tinuation appeared,  there  was  felt  a  vigorous  objec- 
tion to  the  limitation  of  human  existence  to  this 
earth,  the  inference  of  survival  after  death  from 
these  facts  would  be  less  improbable.  But  this  sup- 
position may  not  be  entertained.  It  is  only  long  after 
the  formation  of  the  primary  conception  of  immor- 
tality that  dissatisfaction  with  the  brevity  and  in- 


^*  The  Northern  Tribes  of  Central  Australia.     Pages  266- 
267. 


68  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

completeness  of  this  life  appeared.  We  should  re- 
call in  this  connection  that  at  a  relatively  late  stage 
of  development,  v^hen  men  like  Job  felt  keenly  the  in- 
adequacy of  this  life  and  yearned  for  an  extension 
of  it,  their  knowledge  of  the  grass  that  dies  to  grow 
green  again  in  the  spring  was  not  sufficient  to  lead 
them  to  a  belief  in  survival.  Job  laments  that 
*'  there  is  hope  of  a  tree,  if  it  be  cut  down,  that  it 
will  sprout  again  .  .  .  through  the  scent  of  water  it 
will  bud.  .  .  .  But  man  dieth,  and  wasteth  away." 

The  Waxing  and  the  Waning  Moon;  the  Rising 
and  the  Setting  Sun. — Human  immortality  is  asso- 
ciated in  primitive  myths  with  the  moon  and  the  sun. 
The  waning  and  waxing  moon,  or  the  setting  and 
rising  sun  symbolize,  or  are  otherwise  connected 
with  the  death  and  the  resurrection  of  man.  But 
why  should  we  see  in  the  existence  of  such  myths 
an  indication  that  the  idea  of  human  continuation 
after  death  was  derived  from  these  phenomena?  The 
analogy  that  can  be  drawn  between  phases  of  the 
moon  or  the  setting  and  rising  sun  and  human  re- 
birth is  lame  and  far  fetched.  The  probability  is 
that  only  long  after  the  appearance  of  the  idea  of 
human  continuation  was  the  analogy  thought  of. 

Physical  and  Moral  Likenesses  between  a  Living 
and  a  Dead  Person. — This  is  a  fact  not  only  of  fre- 
quent occurrence  but  also  obvious  enough  not  to 
escape  the  attention  of  the  savage.  How  compelling 
the  likeness  between  son  and  father  can  be,  every  one 
knows.  May  not  the  idea  of  reincarnation,  appar- 
ently universal  among  the  Australians,  and  widely 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  69 

distributed  elsewhere,  have  found  its  origin  in  the 
observation  of  striking  likenesses? 

If  these  likenesses  were  never  observed  except  be- 
tween living  and  dead  persons,  I  do  not  see  how  one 
could  escape  the  surmise  that  the  belief  in  reincarna- 
tion owes  its  existence  to  these  observations.  For, 
in  this  case,  the  savage  would  not  be  supposed  to 
have  made  a  more  or  less  far  fetched  inference,  as 
from  the  vegetal  to  the  human  kingdom,  he  would 
merely  have  recognized  an  obvious  likeness  and  as- 
sumed the  identity  of  the  similar  persons. 

But  since  likenesses  are  even  more  frequently  ob- 
served between  persons,  both  of  whom  are  living, 
than  between  a  dead  and  a  living  person,  the  bearing 
of  likeness  upon  the  origin  of  the  idea  of  reincar- 
nation is  not  obvious.  In  any  case,  resemblances 
would  suggest  reincarnation  rather  than  continua- 
tion after  death  in  ghost-land. 

Reflections  and  Echoes. — These  are  sometimes 
mentioned  as  causes  of  the  ghost-idea.  To  see  one- 
self with  the  life-likeness  of  a  clear  reflection,  or  to 
hear  one's  voice  repeated  by  a  good  echo,  is  surely 
enough  to  startle  a  savage.  We  know,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  that  he  connects  reflections  and  echoes  with 
ghosts.  But  that,  before  the  causes  we  have  desig- 
nated had  produced  the  belief,  reflections  and  echoes 
suggested  of  themselves  the  conception  and  led  to 
the  belief,  seems  hardly  probable. 

The  Instinct  Theory  of  the  Origin  of  the  Belief 
in  Continuation. — According  to  this  antiquated 
theory,  the  idea  of  continuation  is  neither  the  prod- 
uct of  a  direct  perception,  real  or  illusory,  nor  of  an 


70  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

inference;  it  is  an  instinct.  Among  the  arguments 
commonly  adduced  in  favor  of  this  origin,  is  the 
universality  of  the  belief.  Those  who  offer 
this  argument  fail  to  realize  that  there  are  two  rad- 
ically different  conceptions  of  immortality:  the  pri- 
mary and  the  modern  conceptions;  and  that,  there- 
fore, each  must  be  considered  separately.  Univer- 
sality may  belong  to  the  primary  belief,  but  we  shall 
see  that  the  modern  belief  is  not  and  never  has  been 
universal.  The  demonstration  of  the  instinctiveness 
of  one  of  these  two  conceptions  would  not  involve  the 
instinctiveness  of  the  other.  And  in  any  case,  uni- 
versality is  not  synonymous  with  instinctiveness. 

To  label  something  an  instinct,  is  a  convenient  but 
unscientific  way  of  disposing  of  a  difficult  question  of 
origin.  Speak  the  word  and  nothing  more  can  be 
said  on  the  subject.  The  present  instance  is  an  evi- 
dent abuse  of  this  delusive  short  cut  to  an  explana- 
tion. For,  in  psychology,  an  instinct  is  understood 
to  include  a  tendency  to  act  in  a  particular  and 
more  or  less  definite  and  biologically  useful  way, 
when  in  the  presence  of  a  definite  situation.  The 
psychologist  sees  an  absurdity  in  the  application  of 
the  term  "  instinct  "  to  a  conception  or  a  belief.  One 
might  claim,  it  is  true,  that  man  possesses  the  in- 
stinct of  caring  for  the  dead  bodies  of  his  fellow- 
men,  and  that  from  this  instinct  arose  the  idea  of 
continuation  after  death.  But  even  then  it  would 
have  to  be  admitted  that  the  idea  of  immortality 
would  not  thereby  have  been  shown  to  be  itself  an 
instinct,  but  merely  to  have  been  suggested  by  an 
instinctive  activity. 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  71 

Usually,  however,  all  that  is  really  meant  by  the 
*'  instinctiveness  "  or  the  "  innateness  "  of  this  be- 
lief, is  that  it  is  rooted  in  universal,  innate  desires 
and  yearnings,  and  then  the  argument  applies  only 
to  the  modern  belief.  The  aversion  to  annihilation ; 
and  the  desire  for  self-completion,  for  the  fulfill- 
ment of  justice,  for  the  continance  of  affection,  may 
quite  properly  be  designated  as  innate.  But  if  no 
more  than  this  be  affirmed,  innateness  may  be  claim- 
ed for  most  beliefs  with  as  much,  or  rather  with  as 
little  propriety  as  for  immortality ;  for  most  beliefs 
spring  directly  or  indirectly  from  innate  propensi- 
ties. Whether  that  which  I  have  now  called  ''pro- 
pensities "  be  true  instincts  or  merely  vague  ten- 
dencies, the  conceptions  and  beliefs  derived  from 
them  are  assuredly  neither  instincts  nor  innate  pro- 
pensities. 

A  similar  confusion  is  responsible  for  the  appli- 
cation of  these  same  terms  to  religion.  Religion  is 
indeed  rooted  in  the  deepest  and  most  universal  of 
all  innate  propensities :  the  love  of  life,  both  in  its 
preserving  and  enhancing  aspects.  But  if  we  were 
to  call  instinctive  or  innate,  any  and  every  elabora- 
tion, however  dependent  upon  intelligence,  when- 
ever it  has  behind  it  instincts  or  innate  tendencies, 
what  is  there  in  the  whole  round  of  human  thought 
and  activity  which  would  not  deserve  these  epithets  ? 

II.  THE  DIFFERENTIATION  OF  THE  GHOST 
FROM  THE  SOUL 

A  conception  of  survival  arising  from  memory- 
images,  the  sense  of  presence,  dreams,  and  visions 
would  necessarily  picture  that  which  survives  as 


72  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

something  like  a  "  double  "  of  the  living.  Now, 
some  of  the  descriptions  of  anthropologists  and  trav- 
elers conform  entirely  to  this  requirement :  the  sur- 
viving individual  is  in  size,  general  appearance  and 
mode  of  life,  similar  to  the  departed  individual. 
What  differences  there  are,  are  those  to  be  expected 
from  the  nature  of  the  experiences  from  which  the 
idea  originated :  the  ghosts  are  of  tenuous  material, 
usually  invisible,  able  to  transport  themselves  mys- 
teriously from  place  to  place  and  to  pass  through 
the  smallest  openings. 

But,  by  the  side  of  these  descriptions,  we  find 
others  not  at  all  consistent  with  the  origin  we  have 
suggested.  The  soul  is  said  to  be  of  any  size,  from 
a  grain  of  sand  up,  and  of  any  shape  and  appear- 
ance. It  is  affirmed  also  that  a  man  has  several  souls, 
and  that  each  one  of  them  has  a  different  destiny. 
There  are  souls  that  enter  the  wombs  of  women; 
these  souls  may  look  like  diminutive  models  of  a  man 
or  woman,  or  they  may  be  altogether  different.  We 
are  driven  to  the  supposition  that  the  descriptions  do 
not  all  refer  to  one  and  the  same  kind  of  object.  Some 
of  them  have  obvious  reference  to  persons  as  they 
are  seen  in  dreams  and  visions,  others  cannot  by  any 
stretch  of  imagination  be  derived  from  experiences 
of  that  kind ;  they  seem  rather  to  denote  a  belief  in 
a  life-potency  animating  living  things.  Let  us  then, 
instead  of  using  interchangeably,  according  to  the 
custom,  the  words  '*  soul  "  and  *'  ghost,"  use  them 
discriminatingly.  Let  ghost  "  or  *  double  *'  refer 
to  the  conception  which  represents  the  departed  as 
similar  in  appearance  and  habits  tg  the  living, 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  73 

"  Soul  "  would  then  designate  the  (individualized?) 
life-power  possessed  by  every  object  that,  in  the  eye 
of  the  savage,  is  animated. 

When  did  the  savage  derive  the  idea  of  a  soul,  of 
a  life-potency?  From  the  seeds  with  which  he  is 
familiar;  from  partly  developed  plants  and  animals? 
Yes ;  most  probably.  But  there  is  no  reason  to  think 
that  his  imagination  was  narrowly  limited  by  these 
objects.  He  had,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  no  direct 
knowledge  of  the  human  germ  of  life,  and  was  pre- 
sumably therefore  freely  influneced  by  many  ob- 
servations which  suggested  to  him  something  as 
to  the  appearance  and  properties  of  that  potency. 
Thus,  there  need  be  no  surprise  if  the  soul  is  de- 
scribed as  of  the  size  of  a  grain  of  sand  or  much 
bigger;  or  as  in  the  shape  of  man;  or  as  soft,  like 
flesh,  or  hard  like  bone  and  certain  seeds.  Neither 
need  we  wonder  if  each  person  is  said  to  possess 
several  souls,  each  one  perhaps  dwelling  in  a  particu- 
lar organ;  for,  in  that  case,  we  may  suppose  that 
the  savage  has  individualized  the  "  powers "  ex- 
pressed in  particular  mental  and  moral  traits  (vig- 
or, courage,  cleverness)  or  in  physiological  func- 
tions (breathing,  the  heart's  action,  reproduction). 
And  if  this  supposition  does  not  do  sufficient  justice 
to  the  facts,  there  are  others  that  might.  Our  pres- 
ent knowledge  is  too  imperfect  for  us  to  dogmatize 
on  this  point. 

When  this  discrimination  between  ghost  and  soul 
is  made,  much  that  is  otherwise  absolutely  unintel- 
ligible in  the  statements  attributed  to  the  savage, 
becQiTies  readily  explicable,    ^e  understand,  for  in- 


74  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

stance,  that  when  he  speaks  of  a  something  located 
in  the  liver,  without  which  the  person  would  die,  he 
means  the  life-potency,  the  soul,  and  not  the  ghost. 
And  when  he  speaks  of  that  which  has  survived  death 
as  living  on  an  island  not  so  far  away  but  that  you 
can  sometimes  at  night  hear  voices  wafted  over  the 
sea,  he  means  ghosts  and  not  souls.  It  seems  prob- 
able also,  that  in  the  instance  of  so-called  duality  of 
"  souls,''  quoted  in  the  preceding  chapter,  the  kra, 
which  exists  before  the  birth  of  the  man  to  whom 
it  belongs,  is  the  soul;  and  the  srahman,  that  be- 
gins its  career  at  death  only,  is  the  ghost. 

The  failure  of  anthropologists  to  realize  that  the 
words  "  ghosts  "  and  "  soul,"  used  by  them  indiscrim- 
inately, designate  two  different  conceptions,  is  due 
in  great  part  to  language  difficulties.  Confusion  is 
also  fostered  by  the  fact  that,  if  our  understanding 
is  correct,  it  is  most  probable  that  ghosts  also  have 
souls,  in  the  same  sense  as  earthly  bodies  have  souls. 
The  kra,  existing  before  the  person,  is  said  to  con- 
tinue after  death  together  with  the  srahman.  This 
would  be  expected  if  the  kra  (in  our  understanding, 
the  soul  of  the  earthly  body)  continues  as  the  soul 
of  the  ghost.  A  third  source  of  confusion  is  that 
the  savage  himself  is,  we  may  well  suppose,  not  able 
to  always  keep  separate  these  two  conceptions.  It 
is  to  be  expected  that  the  surviving  ghost  would  be 
at  times  confused  with  the  germ  producing  birth. 

When  we  are  told  that  certain  savages  affirm  the 
soullessness  of  women  and  their  annihilation  at 
death,  are  we  to  understand  that  women  are  not  pro- 
produced  by  life-germs,  or  that,  in  their  case,  at  the 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  75 

death  of  the  body  there  is  no  ghostly  continuation? 
In  the  latter  event,  we  should  speak  not  of  the  soul- 
lessness,  but  of  the  ghostlessness  of  women. 

If  the  savage  makes  but  few,  if  any,  reference  to 
the  soul  of  ghosts,  it  may  be  merely  because  there 
is  no  occasion  for  his  doing  so.  It  is  not  his  habit 
to  concern  himself  with  things  that  have  no  practical 
significance  for  him.  He  may,  however,  never  have 
realized  that  consistency  requires  ghosts  to  have 
souls.  On  the  other  hand,  should  he  regard  the  life- 
potency  as  passing  at  death  into  the  ghost,  there 
could  be  no  reincarnation  into  new  earthly  bodies, 
unless  ghosts  died,  or  unless  the  earthly  body  had 
several  souls,  one  of  which  belonged  to  the  ghost, 
and  another  served  the  purpose  of  reincarnation. 
In  this  circle  of  ideas,  we  may  for  the  present  do 
no  better  than  speculate. 

III.  THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SOUL  AS  SET  FORTH  BY 
DURKHEIM  IN  HIS  THEORY  OF  THE  ORIGIN 
OF  THE  IDEA  OF  THE  SOUL-GHOST. 

The  problem  of  the  origin  of  the  soul  conception, 
does  not  strictly  speaking  belong  to  our  immediate 
purpose;  it  is  the  origin  of  the  ghost,  not  of  the  soul, 
that  we  have  to  explain.  In  a  preceding  book  in  a 
chapter  on  the  origin  of  the  idea  of  impersonal  pow- 
ers, I  have  set  forth  what  may  be  called  the  more 
distant  source  of  the  soul  idea.  In  his  Elementary 
Forms  of  the  Religious  Life,  Durkheim  offers  a  valu- 
able suggestion  regarding  the  immediate  origin  of 
that  conception.  But  for  this  distinguished  author,  as 
for  other  anthropologists,  soul  and  ghost  are  not  two 
radically  different  conceptions  arising  in  different 


76  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

ways.  On  the  contrary,  the  main  point  of  his  theory 
is  that  the  immortality  of  the  individual  person  is  a 
necessary  consequence  of  the  nature  attributed  to 
the  soul.  The  main  question  is,  therefore,  for  him, 
that  of  the  origin  of  the  soul-ghost  and  of  its  nature. 
That  problem  intimately  connects  itself  in  his  mind 
with  the  far  reaching  question  of  totemism.  I  can- 
not attempt  to  appreciate  here  the  importance  of 
the  contribution  made  by  Durkheim  to  the  solution 
of  this  great  and  knotty  problem;  I  shall  have  to 
limit  myself  to  a  summary  exposition  of  that  part 
of  his  theory  which  is  of  direct  interest  to  us  in  the 
present  connection. ' 

The  Central  Australian  does  not  think  that  at 
birth  a  new  person  is  created;  creation  de  novo  he 
does  not  understand.  For  him  every  person  coming 
into  existence  is  a  reincarnation.  Each  clan  con- 
sists thus  of  a  constant  number  of  beings ;  or  if  the 
membership  increases,  each  individual  proceeds 
nevertheless  from  the  uncreated,  original  ancestors 
of  the  clan*  In  the  latter  case,  new  beings  bud  forth, 
as  it  were,  out  of  the  substance  of  the  uncreated  an- 
cestors, find  lodgment  in  women's  bodies,  and  come 
to  birth  in  due  course  of  time. 

The  close  connection  existing  between  the  original 
ancestors  and  the  totemic  principle  is  an  essential 
part  of  Durkheim's  theory.  They  were  not  men,  in 
the  proper  sense  of  the  term;  they  were  partly  ani- 
mals or  plants,  and  partly  men,  "  made  of  the  same 
substance  as  the  totemic  principle.''  Thus  Durkheim 


"Durkheim:    Les   Formes  Elementaires   de   la  Vie  7?e^i- 
gieuse;  P^rig;  Alcan;  1912.    Pages  352-375, 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  77 

finds  the  origin  of  each  new  born  individual  in  the 
totemic  power  itself,  acting  through  the  intermedi- 
ary of  the  ancestors.  When  the  totemic  potency  ani- 
mates a  human  or  animal  body,  it  becomes  individ- 
ualized; until  then,  it  may  be  considered  as  too 
vaguely  conceived  to  deserve  the  epithet  personal; 
it  is  not  very  different  from  the  mana  of  the  Melane 
sians. 

Durkheim  thinks  himself  justified  in  regarding 
these  ideas  —  they  are  found  throughout  Australia, 
in  America,  and  probably  elsewhere  —  as  expressing 
the  primary  conception  of  the  soul-ghost. 

From  this  understanding  of  the  nature  and  the 
origin  of  the  soul-ghost,  Durkheim  derives  the  con- 
ception of  its  survival  after  the  death  of  the  body. 
Since  it  appears  to  the  savage  that  souls  can  be  made 
only  out  of  souls,  *'  the  new  born  souls  can  be  nothing 
else  than  new  forms  of  already  existing  souls ;  there- 
fore, these  must  continue  to  exist  in  order  that 
others  may  be  later  formed.  Only  by  belief  in  the 
immortality  of  the  soul  can  primitive  man  explain  to 
himself  a  fact  which  cannot  fail  to  strike  his  atten- 
tion :  the  perpetuation  of  the  life  of  his  social  group. 
Individuals  die,  but  the  clan  survives.*' '° 

Many  years  will  no  doubt  elapse  before  anything 
like  unanimity  is  reached  with  regard  to  the  merits 
of  this  theory,  when  regarded  as  representing  the 
primitive  account  of  the  origin  of  human  individu- 
als. But  this  at  least  may  be  said  now :  after  a  long 
and  practically  unchallenged  sway,  animism,  consid- 
ered as  the  primitive  philosophy  of  life,  is  now  not 


'"  Loc.  cit,  page  384, 


78  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

only  challenged  but  finds  itself  confronted  by  a  for- 
midable rival.  In  several  of  its  aspects,  notably  in 
the  relations  it  would  establish  with  totemism  and 
with  the  general  conception  of  impersonal  power  (a 
notion  which  I  think  must  have  preceded  that  of 
personal  agents) ,  the  new  theory  seems  more  pro- 
foundly rooted  than  the  old. 

The  criticism  w^e  would  pass  upon  this  theory  is, 
we  trust,  already  understood.  The  substantial  iden- 
tity which  Durkheim  assumes  between  the  life- 
potency  and  the  ghost  arises  from  a  misunderstand- 
ing. The  ghost  with  whom  the  savage  maintains 
more  or  less  systematic  relations  of  the  kind  obtain- 
ing between  man  and  man,  is  something  radically 
different  from  the  soul  which,  according  to  Durk- 
heim,—  and  in  this  we  are  ready  to  follow  him  —  is 
responsible  for  new  births.  We  have  already  drawn 
attention  to  some  of  the  facts  which  contradict  the 
common  assumption.  Durkheim  himself  knows  these 
facts,  but  he  does  not  ascribe  to  them  the  significance 
which  they  bear.  When  discussing  Strehlow's  ''  ac- 
count of  the  incarnation  of  souls,  he  mentions  and 
accepts  the  report  according  to  which,  among  the 
Arunta  (a  tribe  of  Central  Australians),  the  ghosts, 
after  the  funerary  rites  have  been  completed,  go  to 
the  island  of  the  dead.  From  that  dwelling  place  they 
make  several  journeys  to  the  living,  in  order  to  assist 
their  families;  These  ghosts,  however,  are  not  im- 
mortal ;  they  are  ultimately  destroyed  by  bolts  from 
the  sky  during  thunder  storms.  Nevertheless,  these 
tribes,  again  according  to  Strehlow,  explain  birth  as 


Loc  cit.,  page  357  ff. 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  79 

a  reincarnation.  It  is  therefore  evident  that  that 
which  is  reincarnated  —  supposing  the  term  to  be 
properly  used  in  this  connection  —  cannot  be  the 
ghosts  who  go  to  the  island  of  the  dead  and  are 
finally  destroyed.  That  which  is  reincarnated  might, 
however,  be  the  soul  of  the  earthly  body,  when,  after 
becoming  the  soul  of  the  ghost,  it  has  finally  been 
liberated  at  its  death.  But  this  supposition  does  not 
fit  in  any  scheme  which,  like  that  of  Durkheim, 
identifies  the  soul  and  the  ghost. 

The  Aruntas'  own  account  of  birth  does  not  seem 
to  fit  Durkheim's  theory  any  better.  Wherever  an 
Alcheringa  (one  of  the  uncreated  ancestors)  has  dis- 
.  appeared  into  the  ground,  ratajM  lurk  at  the  surface, 
in  holes,  or  in  trees ;  and,  when  chance  offers,  they 
enter  women's  bodies.  They  say  also  that,  in  other 
instances,  the  ancestor  himself  operates.  At  the 
proper  time,  he  comes  out  of  his  hiding  place  under 
ground,  and  throws  to  a  passing  woman  a  namatuna 
(or  namatwinna)  which  enters  her  body  and  as- 
sumes human  shape.  The  ghost  inhabitants  of  the 
country  of  the  dead  are  obviously  not  identical  with 
these  ratapa  and  namatuna. 

Instead  of  supposing  that  the  ghost-idea  is  inti- 
mately conected  with  the  birth-idea,  it  seems  better 
in  accord  with  the  known  facts  to  hold  that  the  prob- 
lems of  birth  and  of  death  presented  themselves  to 
the  savage  as  two  independent  problems.  The  for- 
mer, he  solved  naturally  enough  by  thinking  of  the 
entrance  into  women  of  a  seed  of  life  proceeding 
from  one  of  the  ancestors,  and  conceived  usually  as 
bearing  ruman  semblance. 


80  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

The  problem  of  the  hereafter  was,  correctly  speak- 
ing, in  my  opinion,  not  a  problem  at  all  to  the  savage. 
He  may  very  well  have  asked  himself  whence  the  new 
life  suddenly  felt  by  the  pregnant  woman,  and  have 
given  the  answer  suggested  to  him  by  vegetation: 
a  seed  from  an  old  stock  found  its  way  into  a 
woman's  body.  But  why  should  he,  after  seeing 
plants,  animals,  and  men  grow,  reach  maturity,  bear 
fruit,  slowly  decay,  until  little  remained  of  the  life 
that  was  in  them,  and  finally  become  inert  in  death ; 
why  should  he,  possessed  of  this  knowledge,  have 
asked  himself  what  became  of  the  extinguished  life? 
Raising  the  problem  of  a  hereafter  implies  probably 
a  much  higher  development  than  the  one  possessed 
by  primitive  man.  And  yet,  it  seems  as  if  the  sav- 
age had  given  a  solution  to  that  problem.  As  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  if  our  understanding  of  the  origin  of  the 
ghost-idea  is  correct,  the  savage  did  not  answer  the 
problem  of  death,  he  merely,  as  he  thought,  per- 
ceived the  survival  after  death.  It  is  that  illusory 
perception  of  surviving  beings  which  itself,  later  on, 
set  the  problem  of  human  destiny." 


''  When  gods  are  derived  from  surviving  human  ghosts, 
Durkheim  objects  that  the  distinctive  characteristic  of  divini- 
ties, namely  their  sacredness,  has  not  been  accounted  for 
(see  loc.  cit,  pp.  85-91,  123-124,  265-266,  375-379).  He  re- 
minds us  that  man,  as  he  appears  in  dreams,  is  no  more  than 
human;  between  human  ghosts  and  gods  there  lies  therefore 
the  chasm  made  by  the  latter's  possession  of  sacredness.  If, 
when  living  in  a  human  body,  the  ghost  is  merely  an  ordinary, 
a  secular  thing,  how  could  it  at  death  become  suddenly  an 
object  of  religious  regard.  To  derive  gods  from  ghosts  is  in 
Durkheim's  opinion  to  suppose  a  creation  ex  nihilo.  It  is  not 
sufficient  that  the  ghost  in  order  to  become  sacred  be  a  source 
of  anxiety.  Religion,  it  is  true,  includes  some  fear ;  but  "  it 
is  a  fear  sui  generis,  compounded  of  respect  more  than  of 
dread,  and  in  which  dominates  the  very  particular  emotion 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  81 

We  are,  it  seems,  in  possession  of  two  probable 
theories,  each  accounting  for  a  different  set  of  ob- 
servations \  the  one  derives  births  from  ancestors, 
themselves  bearers  of  the  wonderful  and  sacred  po- 
tency which  is  the  efficient  agent  of  totemism;  the 
ether,  accounts  for  the  belief  in  the  survival  after 
death  of  ghosts  that  partake  in  most  respects  of  the 
nature  of  the  living  and  are  shaped  in  their  sem- 
blance. 

If  the  view  here  defended  should  be  correct,  the 


inspired  in  man  by  majesty.  The  idea  of  majesty  is  essen- 
tially a  religious  idea.  .  .  .  Disincarnation  cannot  invest 
human  souls    (ghosts)    with  that  attribute." 

This  criticism  does  not  affect  the  origin  of  the  belief  in 
human  continuation  here  defended;  but  that  other  part  of 
Tylorian  Animism  which  derives  divinities,  and  therefore 
religion,  from  ghosts.  For  my  own  part,  I  hold  it  probable 
that  gods  have  arisen  not  only  from  ancestors,  but  also  from 
other  sources,  as,  for  instance,  from  the  personification  of 
natural  prenomena  and  from  the  assignment  of  a  creator, 
or  creators,  to  the  universe  or  any  part  of  it  (see  A  Psycho- 
logical Study  of  Religion,  Chapters  V  and  VI). 

The  sacredness  of  ghosts  —  when  they  are  sacred  —  is  un- 
doubtedly, as  Durkheim  claims,  a  characteristic  added  to  that 
possessed  by  the  ordinary  human  being;  and,  in  order  to  ac- 
count fully  for  all  the  elements  that  go  to  make  up 
religious  life,  one  must  assuredly  not  omit  sacred- 
ness. But  neither  should  one  overlook  the  personal  beings 
that,  when  invested  with  this  attribute,  constitute  divinities. 

Feuerbach's  Conception  of  the  Origin  of  Survival  after 
Death. — This  early  explanation  of  the  origin  of  ghost,  and 
with  it  of  continuation  after  death,  rests  upon  a  very  crude 
psychology.  For  Feuerbach,  the  idea  of  survival  is  merely 
the  idea  of  the  living  person,  as  it  remains  in  the  memory  of 
those  who  knew  him.  (Page  273.)  "Der  Mensch  mit  seiner 
leiblichen  Existenz  nicht  auch  seine  Existenz  im  Geiste,  in 
der  Erinnerung,  im  Gemuthe  verliert."  "Die  Leiche  des  Men- 
schen  noch  fur  dem  Menschen  selbst  halten,  zugleich  aber 


82  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

role  played  in  the  course  of  human  development  by 
exteriorized  memory-images,  dreams,  and  visions, 
would  be  stupendous. 


auch,  weil  sie  noch  das  Bild  des  Lebendigen  in  der  Erinne- 
rung  haben,  dieses  von  der  Leiche  unterscheiden,  und  als  ein 
selbsstandiges  Wesen  personificiren."  Ludwig  Feuerbach: 
Gedanken  iiher  Todt  und  Unsterblichkeit;  Werke:  Leipzig; 
1847.    Vol.  Ill,  pages  261-273. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE   PRIMARY   BELIEF  IN   CONTINUATION 

AFTER  DEATH  AT  THE  BEGINNING 

OF  THE  HISTORICAL  PERIOD 

I.     THE   BELIEF   IN   IMMORTALITY   IS  SAID   TO 
HAVE  APPEARED  LATE 

After  what  we  have  learned  concerning  the  uni- 
versal existence  of  the  primary  belief  among  con- 
temporary savages,  the  statement  frequently  made 
that  at  the  beginning  of  the  historical  period  several 
peoples,  notably  the  Hebrews  and  the  Greeks,  did 
not  believe  in  human  immortality,  may  cause  some 
surprise.  We  are  told,  for  instance,  that  the  Israel- 
ites' belief  in  immortality  cannot  be  traced  much 
further  back  than  the  beginning  of  the  Christian 
era.  The  covenant  Yahweh  made  with  his  people 
does  not  allude  to  a  future  life.  The  nation  alone 
was  an  object  of  his  care.  The  great  prophets  them- 
selves, when  they  inveigh  against  sin,  care  only  for 
the  danger  therefrom  to  the  existence  of  the  nation. 
Among  the  Greeks  also  the  belief  in  immortality 
is  said  to  have  appeared  late.  Pythagoras,  the 
Mysteries,  and  Plato  are  named  as  marking  the  rise 
of  the  faith.  The  great  contribution  of  Dionysos 
to  the  religion  of  Greece  was,  we  are  told,  the  hope 
of  immortality.  We  also  learn  that,  "  If  one  had 
spoken  to  a  Roman  in  the  fourth  century  before 
Christ,  concerning  his  soul,  its  sinfulness,  and  its 

83 


84  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

need  of  salvation,  there  would  have  been  no  discus- 
sion possible,  for  the  person  addressed  would  not 
have  understood  what  it  was  all  about.  It  is  very  dif- 
ficult for  us  to  put  ourselves  in  such  a  position  of 
innocence ;  but  we  can  at  least  realize  that  there  are 
certain  oriental  nations  of  the  present  day  who  do 
not  understand  these  concepts,  tvho  have  not  the 
consciousness  of  an  individual  soul  and  hence  can 
neither  feel  its  guilt  nor  desire  its  salvation.  The 
origin  of  this  idea  of  the  personal  soul  is  obscured  in 
great  mystery.  It  was  not  present  at  the  time  of 
the  Punic  Wars.  We  see  only  scanty  traces  of  it 
in  the  literature  of  the  Ciceronian  age."  ' 

These  affirmations  may  be  justified  in  two  ways: 
either  the  continuation  idea  expressed  in  the  uni- 
versal belief  in  ghosts  had,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
historical  period,  disappeared  from  among  the  peo- 
ple mentioned;  or  the  immortality  which  the  his- 
torians of  these  nations  have  in  mind  is  so  different 
from  the  primary  survival  that  they  do  not  at  all 
take  that  belief  into  account.  We  shall  have  no 
difficulty  in  showing  that  the  popular  belief  in  ghosts, 
and  at  least  remnants  of  a  cult  addressed  to  sur- 
viving spirits,  persisted  in  the  nations  mentioned 
until  the  appearance  of  the  modern  belief  and  even 
later  on.  The  second  hypothesis  is  therefore  the 
valid  one. 

In  the  Old  Testament,  traces  of  polydaemonistic 
belief  are  definite  enough  to  preclude  divergence  of 

'  J.  B.  Carter:  The  Religious  Life  of  Ancient  Rome: 
Houghton,  Mifflin  Company;  1911.  Page  72.  The  italics  are 
mine. 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  85 

opinion.  The  sacred  stone  at  Bethel,  the  name  itself 
meaning  ''a  house  of  God"  (Gen.  28:22)  ;  the  or- 
acular tree  at  Sichem  (Gen.  12 :  6 ;  Deut.  11:3);  the 
teraphims,  which  even  as  late  as  the  8th  century 
B.  c.  were  a  regular  part  of  the  Hebrew  household 
(Hosea  3:4),  constitute  incontrovertable  evidence 
of  the  survival  among  the  ancient  Hebrews  of  the 
primary  belief  in  continuation  after  death.  ''  It  may 
be  set  down,"  says  Budde,  ''  as  extremely  probable 
that  the  Teraphim  belong  to  the  extensive  domain  of 
ancestor-worship,  or  worship  of  the  dead,  which,  in 
many  lands  and  continents,  even  in  the  New  World, 
has  formed  the  oldest  verifiable  foundation  of  reli- 
gion. Besides  the  household  gods,  Israel  must  have 
had  cults  of  this  nature  which  embraced  wider  cir- 
cles, the  family,  the  clan,  and  the  tribe,  though  only 
isolated  and  unconnected  traces  of  these  cults  re- 
main in  the  Old  Testament.  In  I  Samuel  20 :6,  David 
speaks  of  his  family's  yearly  sacrifice  in  Beth- 
lehem. It  may  be  assumed,  indeed,  that  the  sacrifice 
on  that  occasion  was  offered  to  Yahweh  and  not  to 
a  deified  eponymous  hero.  But  in  ancient  times  the 
case  was  certainly  otherwise.  We  find  great  stress 
laid  upon  the  mention  of  the  burial-places  of  a  whole 
line  of  ancestors  and  heads  of  clans.  (Gen.  35 ;  Gen. 
1;  Joshua  24;  Judges  2.)  Of  the  so-called  'minor 
judges  '  we  learn  scarcely  anything  more  than  their 
places  of  burial  (Judges  10:2,  5;  12:10,  12,  15). 
We  may  be  sure  that  religious  rites  were  performed 
at  these  graves  in  ancient  times."  '    In  Deut.  25:  14, 


'Karl  Budde:  Religion  of  Israel  to  the  Exile:  Putnam's 
Sons;  1899.     Pages  64,  65. 


86  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

we  read,  "  I  have  not  eaten  thereof  in  my  mourning, 
neither  have  I  put  away  thereof,  being  unclean,  nor 
given  thereof  for  the  dead,'* 

Beer  has  shown  that  the  old  Jewish  mourning 
customs  originated  with  the  desire  for  protection 
from  the  liberated  spirit  of  the  deceased.  "  The 
loud  cries  uttered  by  the  mourners  frighten  away 
the  spirits.  The  dress,  the  covering  of  the  head 
with  ashes,  the  shaving  of  the  hair,  the  disfigurement 
and  mutilation  of  the  body  aim  at  making  the 
mourners  unrecognizable.  .  .  .  The  wrapping  of  the 
head  or  beard  prevents  the  spirit  from  entering  in 
them,  in  the  manner  of  infection  bacilli,  through 
the  nose  or  the  mouth.  Hence  the  custom  still  pre- 
valent to-day  of  the  mourning  veil.'* ' 

The  evidence  is  just  as  clear  in  the  case  of  the 
Greeks  as  of  the  Jews.  The  Homeric  conception  of 
man  is  of  a  dual  personality  composed  of  a  visible, 
earthly  being  and  of  its  shadow  or  copy,  which  man- 
ifests its  presence  in  dreams  and  continues  to  live 
in  Hades  after  the  severance  of  death.  This 
"  double  "  takes  no  part  in  the  life  of  the  earthly 
being;  its  domain  is  the  dream  world.  For  Homer, 
dreams  are  never  empty  imaginations.  But  the  per- 
sonages of  the  Iliad  and  Odyssey  do  not  offer  any 
cult  to  the  dead,  who  are  quite  inaccessible  to  them. 
In  an  earlier  age,  however,  the  Greeks  worshiped  the 
departed.  The  books  of  Homer  themselves  contain 
remnants  of  this  older  faith.*    More  substantial  evi- 


*  Georg    Beer:    Der   Biblische   Hades.     Theol.    Abhand. — 
Fine  Festgabe  fii^  H.  J.  Holtzmann;  1902.     Pages  16,  17. 

*  Rohde  has  indicated  in  Psyche,  vol.  I.  pages  14-32,  the 
most  interesting  of  these  remnants. 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  87 

dence  is  now  at  hand  in  the  form  of  recently  dis- 
covered sepultures  with  remains  of  burnt  sacrifices 
offered  in  behalf  of  the  dead  on  the  spot  where  the 
body  was  interred.  In  the  graves  were  placed  pro- 
visions, gold,  and  ornaments,  in  the  belief  that  the 
dead  would  be  able  to  make  use  of  them. 

Jane    Harrison    has    conclusively    demonstrated 
that  while  the  religion  of  the  Olympic  gods  was  in 
process   of  formation,   and   even   much  later,   the 
Greeks  practiced  rites  clearly  indicative  of  the  be- 
lief in  human   ghosts.     She  finds  that  important 
festivals,  nominally  celebrated  in  honor  of  various 
Olympians  (the  Diasia,  the  Thargelia,  the  Anthes- 
teria)  were  in  reality  chiefly  **  rites  of  a  gloomy  un- 
derworld character,  connected  mainly  with  purifi- 
cation and  the  worship  of  ghosts."  '     The  Anthes- 
teria,  for  instance,  celebrated  nominally  in  honor 
of  Dionysos,  "  was  a  festival  of  ghosts  "  aiming  at 
riddance  from  them.     There  is  no  doubt  that  the 
Keres  with  which  the  festival  is  mainly  concerned 
were  ghosts,  and  that  in  the  5th  century,  B.  c,  they 
were  thought  of  as  little  winged  sprites.    Countless 
vase  paintings  show  them  fluttering  about  graves. 
One  vase,  reproduced  in  Miss  Harrison's  work,  pic- 
tures Hermes  Psychopompos  with  the  magic  staff 
in  his  hand  evoking  the  winged  Keres  that  are  seen 
flying  upward  out  of  a  grave-jar.'    The  outcome  of 
her  investigation  is  that  "  the  Greeks  of  the  classi- 
cal period  recognized  two  different  classes  of  rites, 

*  Jane  Harrison:  Prolegomena  to  the  Study  of  Greek  Re- 
ligion; 1st  ed. ;  page  11. 

'Ibid.:  pages  43,  44,  76,  165-167. 


88  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

one  of  the  nature  of  *  service '  addressed  to  the 
Olympians,  the  other  of  the  nature  of  '  riddance ' 
or  '  aversion  *  addressed  to  an  order  of  beings 
wholly  alien." 

The  idea  of  manes,  essential  to  the  religion  of  the 
old  Romans,  is  a  "  vague  conception  of  shades  of 
the  dead  dwelling  below  the  earth."  '  If  one  is  to 
believe  Lucretius,  and  there  seems  to  be  no  reason 
why  he  should  not  be  credited  in  this  particular,  the 
Romans  were  haunted  by  a  dread  of  the  judgment  to 
come.  Andrew  Lang  is  of  the  opinion  that  De 
Rentm  Natura  was  written  against  religion  in  order 
to  free  men's  minds  from  the  dread  of  future  pun- 
ishment and  generally  from  the  interference  of 
gods;  he  refers  to  descriptions  by  Pausanias  and 
others  of  Roman  wall-paintings  picturing  the  tor- 
ments endured  by  the  wicked.' 

The  presence  at  the  beginning  of  the  historical 
period  of  practices  indicative  of  a  belief  in  survival, 
in  the  very  people  among  whom  the  idea  of  immor- 
tality is  said  to  have  appeared  late  is  no  longer 
a  moot  point.  It  is  equally  clear  that  at  the  opening 
of  the  historical  period  the  belief  in  ghosts  and  the 
cults  addressed  to  them  were  losing  favor  in  all  the 
nations  bordering  the  eastern  end  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean.   The  leaders  of  the  time  called  the  old  belief 


^  W.  Ward  Fowler :  The  Religious  Experience  of  the  Roman 
People:  Macmillan  and  Company;  1911.     Page  386. 

Andrew  Lang:  Letters  on  lAterature:  London;  1892. 
Page  91. 

Transmigration  through  the  impregnation  of  women  by 
spirits  was  apparently  credited  by  the  Romans  of  Virgil's 
time. 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  89 

a  superstition.  In  Palestine,  in  Greece,  and  in 
Rome,  the  cults  addressed  to  ghosts  were  deprecated 
as  evil.  In  Israel,  the  religion  of  Yahweh  was  the 
determined  enemy  of  the  cult  of  the  dead  in  all  its 
forms.  Long  before  Jesus  appeared,  the  stage  of 
exorcism  and  divination  was  past ;  "  Neither  magic 
nor  sorcery  have  any  longer  any  standing  in  the 
official  religion  of  Israel.  .  .  .  The  spirits  of  the 
dead,  too,  have  lost  their  power;  exorcism  of  the 
dead  and  inquiry  of  the  dead,  as  well  as  all  the 
mourning  customs  which  remind  one  of  the  old  cultus 
and  sacrifices  to  the  dead,  are  forbidden,  as  opposed 
to  the  spirit  of  the  Israelitish  religion.  Finally, 
Sheol  had  no  significance  in  the  religion  of  the  pro- 
phets." "  ''  That  which  was  in  the  sixth  and  even 
in  the  fifth  century  before  the  Christian  era,"  ac- 
cording to  Jane  Harrison,  **  The  real  religion  of  the 
main  bulk  of  the  [Hellenic]  people,  a  religion  not 
of  cheerful  tendance  but  of  fear  and  deprecation," 
was  the  same  that  Plutarch  centuries  later,  and  with 
him  most  of  his  great  contemporaries,  regarded  as 
superstition.  Among  the  Romans,  ghosts  had  so 
far  lost  individuality  as  to  be  regarded  by  modern 
historians  as  impersonal  forces.  The  cult  had  be- 
come to  an  amazing  degree  a  matter  of  mere  con- 
ventional behavior."'  Thus  a  period  of  greatly 
decreased  influence,  among  the  people,  of  the  prim- 
ary belief  in  immortality  and  of  definite  antagonism 
to  it  by  the  leaders  preceded  the  establishment  of 
the  new  belief. 


'Karl  Marti:    The  Religion  of  the  Old  Testament:   Put- 
nam's Sons;  1907.     Page  180. 

'"W.  Ward  Fowler:  Loc.  cit;  pages  386-388. 


90  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

II  THE  CHIEF  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  PRI- 
MARY BELIEF  AT  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE 
HISTORICAL  PERIOD,  IN  THE  COUNTRIES 
BORDERING  THE  EASTERN  END  OF  THE 
MEDITERRANEAN  SEA. 

A  good  and  sufficient  reason  for  disregarding  the 
primary  belief,  when  tracing  the  origin  of  the  mod- 
ern belief  in  immortality,  is  the  essential  disparity 
of  the  two.  We  have  already  seen  what  are  the  chief 
characteristics  of  the  other  life  among  present  day 
savages;  before  turning  to  the  modern  conception, 
we  must  ascertain  what  the  primary  belief  became 
among  the  ancient  populations  with  whom  the  mod- 
ern conception  originated,  i.  e.,  the  peoples  to  whom 
we  owe  our  civilization,  the  Egyptians,  Assyrians, 
Babylonians,  Hebrews,  and  Greeks. 

The  after  life  of  the  savage  was  not  altogether  a 
wretched  existence;  ghosts  were  no  less  vigorous 
and  effective  than  the  living,  and  many  tribes  enter- 
tained the  idea  of  a  paradise  for  all  or,  at  least,  for 
some  souls.  During  the  centuries  immediately  pre- 
ceding the  Christian  era,  that  cheering  belief  is  not 
to  be  found  among  the  peoples  just  mentioned. 
There  is  no  relieving  touch  to  the  somber  colors  with 
which  they  paint  the  fate  of  ghosts;  and  ,  as  one 
approaches  the  Christian  era,  a  hopeless  desire  to 
escape  from  that  fate  is  more  and  more  frequently 
observed. 

The  Egyptian  religion  is  often  called  "the  re- 
ligion of  eternal  life  " ;  nowhere  else  did  the  idea  of 
continuation  after  death  play  so  important  a  role. 
The  oldest  historical  documents  we  possess,  the  in- 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  91 

scriptions  in  the  passages  and  chambers  of  the  great 
pyramids,  called  the  Pyramid  texts,  belong  to  an 
already  complex  civilization  although  they  date  back 
to  about  3400  B.  c,  the  time  of  the  first  dynasties 
and  of  the  great  pyramids.  The  glimpses  of  earlier 
belief  given  in  these  texts  suffice,  however,  to  indicate 
the  presence  of  a  religion  of  the  underworld  accord- 
ing to  which  the  dead  continue  an  unhappy  exist- 
ence under  the  earth.  **  The  prehistoric  Osiris 
faith,"  writes  Breasted,  "  involved  a  forbidding 
hereafter  which  was  dreaded."  Later  on,  the  reli- 
gion of  the  Sun-god  supplanted  among  the  ruling 
classes  that  of  the  Nether-god.  The  old  religion, 
modified  in  many  ways  by  the  new,  continued  among 
the  people;  but  the  fate  of  the  dead  was  not  im- 
proved. We  read  that  the  souls  "  join  the  Sun-god 
on  his  journey  from  the  western  horizon,  and  are 
left  by  the  god  in  different  parts  of  the  underworld, 
where  he  gives  them  fields  to  till  on  which  they  must 
henceforth  live  as  vassals,  always  ready  to  help  their 
lord  against  his  foes  if  any  should  threaten  to  attack 
him  on  his  passage.  Theirs  was  no  joyful  lot. 
With  delight  they  hailed  the  Sun-god  on  his  appear- 
ance; but  at  the  end  of  an  hour  he  vanished,  the 
door  of  his  room  closed  after  him,  and  for  the  next 
twenty-three  hours  they  had  to  wait  in  darkness 
which  was  relieved  only  by  the  light  which  came 
from  fire-breathing  serpents,  or  from  the  sea  of 
flame  in  which  the  captive  foes  of  the  Sun-god  were 
burning.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  same  fate  over- 
takes high  and  low,  kings  and  subjects.  Few  indeed 
^re  the  mortals  who  succeed  in  escaping  it,  and  those 


92  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

who  dj  are  not  such  as  have  lived  good  lives  on 
earth;  they  are  those  v^ho  have  acquired  an  excep- 
tionally large  knowledge  of  magic,  and  who  have 
striven  also  never  to  show  themselves  enemies  of  the 
Sun-god.  These  succeeded  in  constraining  him  not 
to  set  them  down  on  his  course,  but  to  bear  them 
along  in  his  train,  ever  circling  round  the  heavens 
in  the  solar  bark."  '' 

The  same  melancholy  conception  of  existence  after 
death  is  to  be  noted  in  exhortations  on  the  enjoy- 
ment of  life,  such  as  the  following  inscription  on  a 
stela  addressed  by  a  dead  wife  to  her  husband:  " 
"  Oh,  my  comrade,  my  husband.  Cease  not  to  eat 
and  drink,  to  be  drunken,  to  enjoy  the  love  of  women, 
to  hold  festivals.  Follow  thy  longing  by  day  and 
night.  Give  care  no  room  in  thy  heart.  For  the 
West  Land  (a  domain  of  the  dead)  is  a  land  of  sleep 
and  darkness,  a  dwelling  place  wherein  those  who 
are  there  remain." 

In  the  religion  of  the  God  of  the  Sky,  the  religion 
of  the  nobles  at  the  time  of  the  composition  of  the 
Pyramid  texts,  the  fate  of  the  individual  was 
thought  to  be  happy  only  if  the  dead  himself  before 
his  departure,  or  some  one  for  him  afterwards,  were 
able  to  make  it  so.  The  Egyptian  never  wholly  dis- 
sociated a  person  from  his  body,  and  could  not  con- 
ceive of  the  continuation  of  life  after  death  if  the 
body  were  not  in  some  way  preserved;  hence  em- 
balming customs  and  the  supreme  effort,  represent- 
ed by  the  great  pyramids,  to  shelter  the  bodies  of  the 


^*  A.  Wiedemann:  The  Realm  of  the  Egyptian  Dead:  Lon- 
don; Nutt;  1902.  Pages  25,  26,  27,  28.  Concerning  the  fear 
of  ghosts  in  Egypt,  see  pages  37,  38. 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  93 

kings.  But  it  was  not  enough  to  preserve  and  shield 
the  body  for  all  time;  it  must  be  kept  provided  with 
food  and  whatever  else  the  departed  might  need; 
furniture,  weapons,  statuettes,  servants  intended  for 
the  performance  of  their  menial  functions,  books, 
and  even  musical  instruments.  As  the  deceased  was 
thought  to  be  at  the  mercy  of  the  living,  those  who 
were  able,  provided  inalienable  funds  for  the  ever- 
lasting provisioning  of  their  tombs. 

Even  so  protected  and  provided,  possible  dangers 
still  threatened.     ''Whichever  way  the   royal   pil- 
grim faced  as  he  looked  out  across  the  eastern  sea, 
he  was  beset  with  apprehension  of  the  possible  hos- 
tility of  the  gods,  and  there  crowded  in  upon  him  a 
thousand  fancies  of  danger  and  opposition  which 
clouded  the  fair  picture    of    blessedness    beyond 
There  is  an  epic  touch  in  the  dauntless  courage  with 
which  the  solitary  king,  raising  himself  like  some 
elemental  colossus,  .  .  .  wielding  his  magical  power, 
makes  himself  sovereign  of  the  universe  and  will 
stop  the  very  rising  of  the  sun^if  he  is  halted  at  the 
gate  of  the  Sun-god's  realm."  '" 

To  embalming  and  the  provisions  made  for  the 
material  wants  of  the  dead,  the  Egyptians  added 
magical  incantations  and  prayers.  We  read  m  the 
Pyramid  texts  over  and  over  the  affirmation  of  the 
will-to-believe  denying  death  in  quasi  magical  for- 
mulae, "  King  Teti  has  not  died  the  death,  he  has^ 
become  a  glorious  one  in  the  horizon  " ;  ''  Ho!  King 

1*  Breasted:    The   Development   of   Religious    Thought   in 
Ancient  Egypt.     Pages  116,  117. 


94  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

Unis!  Thou  didst  not  depart  dead,  thou  didst  de- 
part living  " ;  "  This  King  Pepi  dies  not  " ;  "  Have 
you  said  that  he  v^ould  die?  He  does  not;  this  King 
Pepi  lives  forever."  '' 

As  long  as  the  Egyptian  nobles  enjoyed  in  death 
the  care  that  was  thought  effective,  their  survivors 
could  look  upon  death  v^ith  something  like  com- 
posure. But  when  the  pyramids  threatened  ruin, 
the  priests  had  given  up  their  sacred  task  of  care 
takers,  and  the  legacies  for  their  maintenance  had 
vanished,  what  hope  could  remain  to  those  who  had 
trusted  in  these  external  means?  These  happenings 
together  with  others  led,  during  the  Middle  King- 
dom (2160-1788  B.  c),  to  a  much  less  hopeful  view 
of  the  other  life  on  the  part  of  the  followers  of  the 
Sky-god.  They  were  reduced  to  the  sorrowful  out- 
look of  the  common  people. 

"  Behold   the   places   thereof    [of  the    Pyramids] 

Their  walls  are  dismantled, 

Their  places  are  no  more. 

As  if  they  had  never  been. 
"  None  Cometh  from  thence 

That  he  may  tell  us  how  they  fare; 

That  he  may  tell  us  of  their  fortunes, 

That  he  may  content  our  heart, 

Until  we  too  depart 

To  the  place  whither  they  have  gone. 

Encourage  thy  heart  to  forget  it, 

Making  it  pleasant  for  thee  to  follow  thy  desire, 

While  thou  livest. 

"  Celebrate  the  glad  day. 
Be  not  weary  therein. 
Lo,  no  man  taketh  his  goods  with  him. 
Yea,  none  returneth  again  that  is  gone."  ^* 


''Breasted:  Loc.  cit.;  page  91. 

'*  A  song  of  the  Eleventh  Dynasty  (about  2000  B.  c.,) 
edited  by  W.  W.  Miiller  in  Liebespoesie.  I  use  the  English 
translation  in  Breasted:  Loc.  cit.,  page  183. 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  95 

From  the  naive  belief  in  continuation  after  death 
of  the  present  day  savage  to  the  pessimism  of  this 
song,  there  stretches  a  long  history.  After  a  period 
during  which,  with  admirable  boldness,  the  Egyptian 
nobles  had  presumed  to  make  themselves  the  equals 
of  the  gods  in  the  other  life,  they  had  been  forced 
back  to  the  disheartening  belief  of  the  common  peo- 
ple. A  similar  belief  ruled  in  the  neighboring  coun- 
tries. 

The  Babylonian  dead  were  supposed  to  dwell  in 
a  great  cave  underneath  the  earth,  the  most  common 
name  of  which  is  Aralu.  It  ''  was  pictured  as  a  vast 
place,  dark  and  gloomy.  .  .  ,  surrounded  by  seven 
walls  and  strongly  guarded,  it  was  a  place  to  which 
no  living  person  could  go  and  from  which  no  mortal 
could  ever  depart  after  once  entering  it."  " 

"  The  day  of  death  is  a  day  of  sorrow,  '  the  day 
without  mercy.'  .  .  .  Whenever  death  is  referred  to 
in  the  literature,  it  is  described  as  an  unmitigated 
evil.  What  distinguishes  the  dead  from  the  living 
is  their  inactivity."  They  "  are  weak,  and,  there- 
fore, unless  others  attend  to  their  needs,  they  suffer 
pangs  of  hunger,  or  must  content  themselves  with 
*  dust  and  clay  *  as  their  food."  ^'  Their  inactivity 
carries  with  it  a  deprivation  of  all  pleasures.  But 
the  dead  person,  not  sufficiently  well  cared  for  by  his 
relatives,  could  avenge  himself  by  plaguing  them. 
An  instance  of  how  this  was  done  among  the  He- 
brews is  provided  in  the  Old  Testament's  description 

''Morris  Jastrow:  Aspects  of  Religious  Belief  and  Prac- 
tice in  Babylonia  and  Assyria;  1911.    Pages  353,  356,  358. 


96  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

of  Saul's  procedure  when  he  sought  out  a  sorceress 
and  through  her  summoned  the  dead  Samuel. 

For  the  Babylonians,  death  made  all  men  equal. 
There  were  no  distinctions  of  rank  in  the  underworld, 
kings,  priests,  conjurers,  magicians,  and  common 
people  all  found  themselves  together  in  the  dry  and 
dusty  kurnugea  (Sumerian  word  for  abode  of  the 
dead.)  Everything  one  touched  was  dusty.  Dust 
and  earth  were  the  food,  the  muddy  water  the  drink 
of  those  living  the  shadowy  life  of  the  under- 
world.'" 

Sheol  of  the  Hebrews,  like  the  underworld  of  the 
Babj^lonians,  was  a  place  of  dread.  The  shades 
were  forgotten  of  God.  Yahweh  was  the  God  of  the 
living,  not  of  the  dead.'^  ''  Go  thy  way,"  says 
Ecclesiastes,  ''  eat  thy  bread  with  joy  and  drink  thy 
wine  with  a  merry  heart ;  ...  Let  thy  garments  be 
always  white;  and  let  not  thy  head  lack  oil.  Live 
joyfully  with  the  wife  thou  lovest  all  the  days  of  thy 
life  of  vanity :  ...  for  there  is  no  work,  nor  device, 
nor  knowledge,  nor  wisdom,  in  Sheol  wither  thou 
goest."  '' 

In  Greece  the  land  of  the  dead  was  also  below  the 
earth,  beyond  Akaron.  The  souls  went  to  Hades 
bemoaning  their  lot,  for  it  was  wretched.  From 
that  dark  country  souls  never  returned,  and  with 
them  there  was  no  communication.     Neither  the 

'*  Friedrich  Delitzsch:  Das  Land  ohne  Heimkehr,  die  Ge- 
danken  der  Babylonier-Assyrer  iiber  Tod  und  Jenseits;  Stutt- 
gart; 1911.  Page  16.  He  thinks,  however,  that  as  early  as 
the  30th  century  b.  c.  a  distinction  in  the  abode  of  the  shades 
made  its  appearance.  Some  of  the  shades  live  in  peace  and 
comfort  m  a  country  provided  with  water.     (Pages  18-22.) 

''  Psahn  88:  13.  "  Ecclesiastics  9:  7-10. 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  97 

Egyptians,  nor  the  Babylonians,  nor  the  Hebrews, 
nor  the  Greeks  could  think  of  beings  deprived  of  a 
vigorous,  effective  body  as  enjoying  a  happy  life; 
that  is  why  the  Egyptians  did  their  utmost  to  pre- 
serve the  body,  and  why  the  souls  were  pictured  as 
feeble,  inefficient  shades.  The  Babylonian  dead  were 
supposed  to  live  an  ineffective,  drowsy,  starved 
existence ;  and  the  inhabitants  of  Sheol  are  described 
in  the  Old  Testament  as  revhaim,  that  is,  feeble  and 
ineffective  creatures.  Homer  draws  a  repulsive  pic- 
ture of  the  dead  hovering  in  the  dark  realm  of 
Akaron,  hazily  conscious,  hollow  voiced,  weak,  and 
indifferent.  The  few  fortunate  individuals  who  were 
translated  to  Elysium  or  elsewhere  without  passing 
through  death  and  lived  on  happily,  had  retained 
their  body. 

The  ghosts  known  to  the  Old  Testament  writers 
"  were  entirely  lacking  in  the  characteristics  of  per- 
sonality," ''  and  the  Roman  shades  were  ''hardly, 
if  at  all,  individualized."  '°  This  lack  of  definite 
personality  and  the  accompanying  lack  of  individual 
names  are  hardly  matters  for  surprise;  they  follow 
unavoidably,  it  seems  to  me,  from  the  immense  num- 
ber and  the  insignificance  of  the  shades.  It  was  im- 
possible for  the  living  to  think  of  them  otherwise 
than  collectively.  A  deceased  husband  is,  of  course, 
a  perfectly  definite  person  to  his  wife  at  the  begin- 
ning of  her  widowhood;  but  as  time  passes,  and  as 
the  rites  of  propitiation  are  more  and  more  care- 
lessly attended  to,  and  a  new  husband  replaces  the 


Karl  Marti:  Loc.  cit.;  page  58. 

W.  Ward  Fowler:  Loc.  cit.;  page  386. 


98  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

departed  one,  the  personality  of  the  ghostly  first 
husband  unavoidably  fades  out.  Sooner  or  later, 
he  is  degraded  to  the  rank  of  the  undifferentiated 
shades  that  haunt  the  world  of  the  dead  —  shades 
thought  of  and  dealt  with  not  individually,  but  col- 
lectively. Such  were  the  numena,  whose  varied 
powers  were  collective  rather  than  individual. 

The  vagueness  with  which  the  personality  of  the 
shades  were  conceived  should  not,  however,  be  inter- 
preted as  signifying  that  they  were  powers  of  an 
impersonal  order.  The  ghosts,  the  shades,  the 
numena  with  whom  the  Greeks,  the  Hebrews,  the 
Romans  maintained  relations,  were  personal  powers, 
however  ill  characterized  they  may  have  been.  This 
fact  is  established  by  the  nature  of  the  relations 
maintained  with  them :  the  invocations,  the  offerings, 
the  sacrifices.  Such  rites  are  not  addressed  to  non- 
personal  powers.  Of  the  numberless  ghosts  existing 
for  these  peoples,  only  those  who  for  any  reason  be- 
came centers  of  special  attention  on  the  part  of  a 
group,  preserved  or  reacquired  a  definite  personality 
and  received  a  name.  Their  humble  descent  from  the 
crowd  of  nameless  souls  was,  of  course,  either  never 
known  or  speedily  forgotten. 

The  kind  of  influence  exercised  by  the  belief  in 
continuation  varies  with  the  degree  of  mental  de- 
velopment of  the  believer  as  well  as  with  the  nature 
of  the  belief.  In  the  modern  belief  the  whole  em- 
phasis is  placed  upon  securing  for  oneself  a  happy 
life  after  death.  It  is  otherwise  with  the  savage. 
He  lives  in  the  present  and  gives  little  thought  to 
his  own  destiny;  he  is  much  more  interested  in  the 


THE  PRIMARY  BELIEF  99 

existence  of  the  ghosts  themselves,  and  in  their  be- 
havior toward  him,  than  in  his  own  survival.  The 
next  world  exists  for  him  only  in  its  influence  upon 
the  present  life :  he  believes  in  the  survival  of  others, 
and  does  not  think  of  his  own.  Among  the  semi- 
civilized,  however,  the  belief  leads  both  to  rites  for 
averting  the  dreaded  ghosts  and  to  a  real  concern 
for  one's  own  future. 

For  centuries  the  primary  belief,  with  all  the  hope- 
lessness and  horror  it  took  on  in  the  course  of  its 
development,  oppressed  the  millions  among  whom 
European  civilization  was  slowly  taking  shape. 
Why  did  the  primary  belief  harden  into  this  dis- 
tressing and  hopeless  form?  Surely  not  because  all 
optimism  had  departed  from  human  nature.  The 
impulses  out  of  which  paradises  are  created  were  not 
dead ;  this  is  triumphantly  demonstrated  by  the  cre- 
ation, a  little  later  on,  of  the  glorious  modern  con- 
ception. The  explanation  of  the  temporary  triumph 
of  the  dismal  belief  in  impotent  and  vacuous  souls 
seems  to  be  found,  as  I  have  already  intimated,  in 
the  inability  of  men  at  that  stage  of  culture  to  con- 
ceive of  a  person  as  enjoying  a  tolerable  existence 
when  deprived  of  his  earthly  body. 

The  persistence  of  the  difficulty  offered  by  the 
destruction  of  the  body  is  sufficiently  evidenced  by 
the  fact  that  its  resurrection  is  affirmed  even  in  the 
modern  conception  of  immortality.  Not  belief  in 
bodiless  spirits,  but  in  spirits  inhabiting  **  glorified  '' 
bodies,  is  the  form  which  faith  took  under  the  pres- 
sure of  the  moral  demands  for  immortality.'' 


^'  As  recently  as  1875,  a  Dr.  Schneider  expressed  the  opin- 
ion  that  burning   the    body   makes   life   eternal   impossible. 


100  COD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

I  have  reported  certain  conceptions  and  beliefs 
of  the  Egyptians,  the  Babylonians,  the  Hebrews,  and 
the  Greeks  as  if  they  had  arisen  independently  of 
one  another.  This  is  certainly  not  the  fact:  the 
ancient  Hebrews'  belief  in  continuation  after  death, 
for  instance,  owed  much  to  the  Babylonians.  My 
purpose  was  not  to  trace  the  influence  of  peoples 
upon  each  other,  but  rather  to  find  the  reasons  for 
those  characteristics  of  the  idea  of  continuation 
after  death  which  were  common  to  a  group  of  them. 


"  Only  if  the  dead  are  sunk  in  the  grave  is  there  any  hope 
present  for  the  mourners  that  they  will  remain  preserved 
for  life  eternal  and  that  we  shall  again  find  them.  Of  this 
comfort,  however,  those  who  remain  behind  are  robbed  if  the 
body  is  taken  from  them  and  burned." —  From  an  address, 
"  To  Bury,  not  to  Burn,'  as  quoted  by  Alfred  Bertholet  in 
Pre-Christian  Belief  in  the  Resurrection,  Amer.  Jr.  of  Theol.^ 
vol.  XX;  1906;  page  19. 

All  the  Christian  creeds  affirm  the  resurrection  of  the  body. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  MODERN  CONCEPTION 
OF   IMMORTALITY 

In  the  countries  bordering  the  eastern  end  of  the 
Mediterranean  Sea,  general  conditions  required  for 
the  birth  of  a  new  conception  of  immortality  were 
realized  at  the  beginning  of  the  historical  period. 
Earthly  existence  had  come  to  be  felt  as  too  brief 
and  at  best  too  imperfect  to  account  for  the  sig- 
nificance of  man.     The  consciousness  of  the  insuf- 
ficiency of  this  life  to  satisfy  the  cravings  of  the 
heart  and  the  demands  of  conscience  manifests  itself 
in  many  ways  in   early  historical  records.     And, 
whether  the  intellectual  leaders  were  prepared  or  not 
to  entertain  another  than  the  traditional  explana- 
tion of  dreams  and  visions,  they  looked  with  dis- 
favor upon  the  most  obvious  of  the  practical  con- 
sequences of  the  belief  in  ghosts.    Under  these  cir- 
cumstances,  their   influence   could   not   fail   to   be 
placed  on  the  side  of  any  other  plausible  belief,  prac- 
tically valuable. 

One  might  establish  an  interesting  parallel,  his- 
torical as  well  as  psychological,  between  the  appear- 
ance of  romatic,  platonic  love  and  that  of  the  new 
immortality.  Just  as  love-poetry  could  not  be  ex- 
pected until  sex  relations  had  developed  beyond  mere 
physiological  needs,  so  the  creation  of  the  modern 
paradise  could  not  take  place  before  ideals  of  friend- 
ship and  of  love  have  been  formed.  The  period  of 
the  birth  of  love-poetry,  and  more  generally  of  lyric 

101 


102  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

poetry,  was  also  that  of  the  appearance  of  the  new 
belief  in  immortality,  for  these  two  expressions  of 
human  needs  are  witnesses  to  similar  spiritual  ex- 
periences. The  raptures  and  pains  which  under 
certain  circumstances  vent  themselves  in  lyric  song, 
under  others  seek  relief  in  the  thought  of  an  eternal 
existence  in  which  love,  friendship,  and  justice  shall 
be  forever  victorious. 

Cicero,  who  lived  during  what  may  be  called  the 
interregnum  of  the  belief  in  continuation,  provides 
a  precious  illustration  of  the  influence  of  affection 
upon  the  establishment  of  the  new  belief.  Agnos- 
ticism was  his  usual  attitude.  In  one  of  his  letters 
he  seems  to  speak  of  his  own  non-existence  after 
death.  Nevertheless,  when  his  beloved  and  only 
daughter,  Tulla,  died,  he  thought  of  her  as  still 
surviving,  as  a  deity  or  spirit  to  whom  a  fanum  ' 
could  be  erected.  In  a  Consolatio  addressed  to  him- 
self he  insists  upon  the  spiritual  nature  of  the  soul. 
**  And  in  the  concluding  words  he  hints  strongly  at 
the  divinity  of  the  soul  which  is  of  the  same  make  as 
God  Himself, — of  the  same  immaterial  nature  as 
the  only  Deity  of  whom  we  mortals  can  conceive. 
His  daughter,  therefore,  is  not  only  still  living  in  a 
spiritual  life,  but  she  is  in  some  vague  sense  divine. 
.  .  .  Undoubtedly,  Cicero  is  here  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Pythagoreans  as  well  as  of  his  own 
emotion."  '     Instances  of  belief  in  immortality  due 


'  Fanum  was  the  general  term  for  a  spot  of  gn^ound  sacred 
to  a  deity. 

''  The  whole  of  this  passage  referring  to  Cicero  is  taken 
more  or  less  verbatim  from  W.  Ward  Fowler:  The  Religious 
Experience  of  the  Roman  People;  pages  385-389. 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  103 

to  a  cause  similar  to  the  one  affecting  Cicero  are 
abundant  among  us  today.  Cicero  deserves  special 
mention  in  this  connection  only  because  he  lived  be- 
fore the  belief  v^^as  firmly  established. 

Some  of  the  psychic  forces  that  were  to  create  the 
belief  in  the  fulfillment  of  human  desires  after  death, 
began  by  giving  rise  to  heralds  of  the  new  faith, 
namely  to  belief  in  translation  into  an  endless  exist- 
ence without  passing  through  death  and  in  Mes- 
sianic prophecy. 

I.  TRANSLATION  TO  A  LAND  OF  IMMORTALITY 
In  the  Homeric  epics,  Menelaus  and  Ganymede 
are  translated,  the  first  to  Elysium,  the  second  to 
Olympus;  not,  it  is  true,  as  a  reward  for  faithful- 
ness to  the  gods,  nor  because  of  superior  personal 
worth,  but  simply,  at  least  so  it  appears,  because 
of  a  physical  relationship  to  the  gods.  There  is 
here  no  question  of  a  special  abode  for  chosen  spirits, 
on  the  order  of  the  Christian  heaven.  Neither 
Menelaus  nor  Ganymede  were  shades;  they  did  not 
die,  they  never  lost  their  bodies.  The  Elysian  fields 
to  which  Menelaus  was  transported,  were  a  land  of 
perpetual  spring  at  the  end  of  the  earth.  Gany- 
mede's adventure  was  different  in  that  he  was 
brought  to  the  abode  of  the  gods  themselves  in  order 
to  serve  them  as  cup  bearer. 

For  the  Babylonians,  there  seems  to  have  been  but 
one  exception  to  the  rule  according  to  which  all 
mankind  eventually  goes  to  Aralu.  Parnapishtim, 
perhaps  the  prototype  of  Noah,  was  miraculously 
saved  from  a  rainstorm  that  caused  general  destruc- 


104  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

tion.  He  was,  moreover,  transported  to  a  place 
vaguely  described  as  **  distant "  and  situated  at  the 
"  confluence  of  the  streams,"  probably  an  island  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  where  he  continues 
to  live  in  blessedness.  His  appearance  is,  however, 
unchanged.  A  certain  Gilgamesh,  the  hero  of  a 
Babylonian  epic,  seeks  Parnapishtim  in  the  belief 
that  he  has  the  power  to  cure  him.  On  perceiving 
him,  Gilgamesh  exclaims: — 

"  I  gaze  at  thee  in  amazement,  Parnapishtim. 
Thy  appearance  is  normal.    As  I  am,  so  art  thou. 

Thou  are  completely  equipped  for  the  fray. 

Tell  me  how  thou  didst  come  to  obtain  eternal  life  among 
the  gods?  "  » 

No  reason  is  adduced  for  the  escape  of  the  Baby- 
lonian hero  from  the  dreary  world  of  the  inactive 
shades ;  no  religious  nor  ethical  merit  belongs  to  him. 
The  best  that  is  said  of  him  is  that  he  is  a  "  very 
clever  one."  Whatever  may  be  the  reason  for  his 
good  fortune  and  that  of  Menelaus  and  Ganymede, 
these  instances  make  clear  the  dislike  of  the  world 
of  the  dead,  the  presence  of  a  desire  for  continued 
life  amid  happy  circumstances,  and  the  belief  that 
such  a  blessed  fate  was  not  altogether  impossible, 
that  man  was  not  so  far  below  the  gods  as  to  be  under 
any  circumstances  unworthy  of  partaking  in  their 
immortal  happiness. 

The  two  Hebrew  examples  of  Enoch*  who 
**  walked  with   God  "  and  was  taken  up  unto  his 


'  Morris  Jastrow:  The  Religion  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria. 
Pages  493-494. 

*Gen.  5:24. 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  105 

Lord;  and  of  Elijah/  the  fearless  servant  of  Yah- 
weh,  who  was  carried  in  a  chariot  of  fire  by  a  whirl- 
wind into  heaven,  reveal  the  presence  among  the 
Jews  of  the  same  desires  and  ideas  and,  in  addition, 
mark  the  consciousness  of  the  supreme  value  of 
loyalty  to  the  gods.  Translation  was  for  these  men 
the  reward  of  moral  worth. 

But  why  were  not  these  worthies  allowed  to  pass 
through  death  and  then  made  immortal  and  blessed? 
If  they  were  translated  bodily  into  a  land  of  im- 
mortality, it  is  probably  because  to  their  people  the 
soul  could  not  be  sundered  from  the  earthly  body 
without  suffering  a  permanent  loss;  it  became  a  ten- 
uous, ineffective  ghost. 

11.     THE  MESSIANIC  PROPHECIES 
This  very  significant  manifestation  of  some  of  the 
forces  to  which  we  owe  the  modern  belief  found  its 
most  vigorous  and  clearest  expression  among  the 
Hebrews.     Their  intense  consciousness  of  national 
existence  made  it  impossible  for  them  to  conceive  of 
their  nation  as  coming  to  an  end.    Israel  could  not 
be  destroyed;  its  birthright  was  to  rule  and  endure 
to  the  end  of  time.     When  disaster  upon  disaster 
overtook  it,  when  Judah  and  later  Israel  were  taken 
captive,    national    consciousness,    instead    of   relin- 
quishing its  claims  to  national  greatness,  reaffirmed 
them  and  devised  ways  by  which,  in  spite  of  the  pres- 
ent humiliation,  the  hopes  of  the  race  would,  in  some 
way  or  other,  be  realized.     The  oppressed  nation 

•  II  Kings  1-2, 


106  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

dreamt  the  dream  of  the  Day  of  Yahweh  when,  the 
Lord  having  manifested  his  might,  Irsael  would  be 
established  upon  the  earth  in  peace  and  power. 

To  this  conviction  was  added  later  on  another, 
closely  connected  with  immortality,  namely  the  belief 
that  on  that  blessed  Day,  the  righteous  who  had 
descended  to  Sheol  would  arise  and  participate  in 
the  triumph  of  the  nation."  The  faithful  were  to 
be  ressurrected,  not  in  order  to  live  a  blessed  inde- 
pendent existence  somewhere  else  than  on  this  earth, 
but  in  order  to  be  reincorporated  in  the  earthly  life 
of  the  nation.  We  cannot  follow  here  the  gradual 
formation  of  this  ideal  of  Isaiah  in  which  the  two 
distinct  ideas  of  a  regenerated  nation  and  of  the 
resurrection  of  the  righteous  had  become  united. 
The  second  and  the  third  chapters  of  R.  H.  Charles' 
work  will  gratify  the  readers'  curiosity  on  these 
points." 

The  psychologist  notes  with  interest  that  the  ideas 
of  the  Day  of  Yahweh  and  of  the  resurrection  of  the 


*  "  Thy  dead  shall  live,  my  dead  bodies  shall  arise.  Awake 
and  sing  ye  that  dwell  in  the  dust;  for  thy  dew  is  as  the  dew 
of  herbs  and  the  earth  shall  cast  forth  the  dead." — Isaiah 
26:  19. 

^  That  this  conception  of  an  eternal  blessed  future  upon 
earth  in  which  the  dead  participate  is  truly  of  Hebraic  origin, 
and  is  not  merely  borrowed  from  the  religion  of  Zoroaster,  is, 
in  the  opinion  of  Charles,  an  established  fact.  He  writes, 
"  But  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  Jewish  doctrine,  as  it  appears 
in  its  earliest  form  in  Is.  26,  is  essentially  different  from  the 
Mazdean.  Thus  (1)  whereas  the  former  is  spiritually  con- 
ceived as  the  prerogative  of  only  the  righteous  in  Israel,  the 
latter  is  a  mechanical  and  ethically  indifferent  dogma,  in  ac- 
cordance with  which  good  and  bad  alike  are  raised.  Thus 
whereas  the  former  is  specifically  the  result  of  right  conduct, 
the  latter  has  no  relation  to  conduct  at  all.  (2)  According  to 
the  former,  only  a  limited  number  —  the  faithful  in  Israel 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  107 

dead  to  participate  in  it,  owe  their  origin  to  the 
same  class  of  motives :  both  spring  from  a  con- 
viction of  the  insufficiency  of  this  life  to  satisfy  fully 
the  instincts  of  preservation  and  completion  as  en- 
larged by  moral  perception. 

Similar  causes  led  the  Egyptians  to  a  belief  in  an 
ideal  future  state  like  that  of  the  Hebrews,  though 
less  definite  and  much  less  firmly  established.    The 
Admonition    of    an    Egyptian    Sage'    recalls    the 
prophetic  books  of  the  Old  Testament  in  which  the 
Messianic  Kingdom  is  announced.     I  cannot  dwell 
upon  this  remarkable  document,  but  will  reproduce 
a  passage  from  Breasted  that  refers  to  the  closing 
part  of  the  tractate  where  a  picture  is  drawn     of 
the  ideal  sovereign,  the  righteous  ruler  with  '  no  evil 
in  his  heart,'  who  goes   about  like  a  '  shepherd 
gathering  his  reduced  and  thirsty  herds.    The  hope 
that  the  advent  of  the  good  king  is  imminent  is  un- 
mistakable in  the  final  words :  '  Where  is  he  to-day  . 
Doth  he  sleep  perchance?    Behold  his  might  is  not 
seen.'     With  his  last  utterance  one  involuntarily 
adds  '  as  yet.'  .  .  .  Whether  the  coming  of  this  ruler 
is  definitely  predicted  or  not,  the  vision  of  his  char- 
acter and  his  work  is  here  unmistakably  lifted  up 

Zri^T^Ii^d;  according  to  the  latter,  all  men  of  all  nationali- 
ses and  of  a  1  times.  (3)  According  to  the  former,  the  res- 
urrection ^as  at  the  beginning  of  the  Messianic  kingdom;  ac- 
cording to  the  latter,  at  its  consummation  m  connection  with 
the  final  judgment/'- A  CriUcal  ^^^^^ry  oj  the  Bocipne  o 
aF^Zrel^in  Israel  inMdai^^rn,  andmChristmmty. 
Tendon-  Adam  and  Black;  1899.  Pages  134,  135. 
^  AlaA  H  Gardiner:  The  Admonition  of  an  EgyptranSage; 
Leinzis-  1909.  I  follow  Breasted:  loc.  ciL;  pages  203-216, 
who  Ifcepts  the  reading  of  Dr.  H.  C  Lange  For  a  discus- 
Tion  of  that  reading  see  Gardiner's  Introduction. 


108  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

by  the  ancient  sage— lifted  up  in  the  presence  of  the 
living  king  and  those  assembled  with  him,  that  they 
may  catch  something  of  its  splendor.  This  is,  of 
course,  Messianic  nearly  fifteen  hundred  years  before 
its  appearance  among  the  Hebrews." 

III.  THE  RECOGNITION  OF  THE  INSUFFICIENCY 
OF  NATIONAL  HOPES,  THE  CONSEQUENT  ES- 
TABLISHMENT OF  INDIVIDUAL  RELATIONS 
WITH  THE  GODS,  AND  THE  DAWN  OF  THE 
MODERN  BELIEF  IN  PERSONAL  IMMOR- 
TALITY 

Intellectual  and  moral  growth  meant  the  appear- 
ance, side  by  side  with  the  strong  social  conscious- 
ness characteristic  of  the  earlier  stages  of  social  de- 
velopment, of  a  sense  of  individual  worth 
and  responsibility.  The  moment  came  when  no 
dream  of  national  triumph  and  greatness  could  com- 
pletely satisfy  the  moral  aspirations  of  man.  This 
insufficiency  could  be  illustrated  in  every  population 
which  has  passed  from  savagery  to  civilization.  Its 
earliest  expression  known  to  us  is  found  in  Egypt, 
but  it  is  in  Hebrew  sacred  literature  that  the  richest 
material  illustrates  the  spiritual  forces  at  work  in  the 
transformation  of  the  conception  of  a  national  into 
an  individual  immortality.  I  shall  therefore  confine 
myself  almost  exclusively  to  that  nation. 

The  author  of  the  book  of  Job  came  near  solving 
the  tormenting  irrationalities  involved  in  the  thought 
of  a  mortal  being  ending  miserably  in  death,  by 
positing  another  life  in  which  the  present  one  would 
find  its  explanation  and  justification.  Job's  re- 
bellious complaint  against  the  limit  set  by  death 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  109 

rises  clear  and  loud;  '  Man  that  is  born  of  a  woman 
is  of  few  days  and  full  of  trouble.    He  cometh  forth 
like  a  flower,  and  is  cut  down.    He  fleeth  also  as  a 
shadow,  and  continueth  not.  .   .  .  Thou  hast  ap- 
pointed his  bounds  that  he  cannot  pass.  .  .  .  There 
is  hope  of  a  tree,  if  it  be  cut  down  that  it  will  sprout 
again.  .  .  .  Though  the  root  thereof  was  old  in  the 
earth  and  the  stock  thereof  die  in  the  ground  yet 
through  the  scent  of  water  it  will  bud  and  bring 
forth  boughs  like   a  plant.     But  man   dieth  and 
wasteth  away:  Yea,  man  giveth  up  the  ghost,  and 
where  is  he?  .  .  .  Man  lieth  down  and  riseth  not; 
till  the  heavens  be  no  more  they  shall  not  awake  nor 
be  raised  out  of  their  sleep."  '    Then  a  wish,  hardly 
a  hope,  escapes  his  lips :  "Oh,  that  thou  wouldst  hide 
me  in  the  grave,  that  thou  wouldst  keep  me  secret, 
until  thy  wrath  be  passed,  that  thou  wouldst  appoint 
me  a  set  time  and  remember  me.    If  a  man  die,  shall 
he  live  again?    All  the  days  of  my  appointed  time 
will  I  wait  till  my  change  come."  "" 

The  nearest  Job  comes  to  the  glorious  idea  of  an 
eternal  blessed  life  with  God,  is  in  the  conviction— 
perhaps  only  a  fleeting  persuasion— that  after  death 
he  will  enjoy  for  a  moment  a  vision  of  God  who  will 
then  vindicate  his  mysterious  ways.  Although  an 
endless  continuance  of  life  in  communion  with  God  is 
nowhere  even  hinted  at  by  Job,  nevertheless,  his  pro- 
found sense  of  the  claims  of  justice  makes  him  a 
fore-runner  of  the  great  Jewish  prophets  who  con- 
ceived the  resurrection  of  the  faithful  and  a  blessed 
existence  with  God. 

^oVTT:  1-12.  ^"^  Loc.  cit.;  5:13,  14. 


110  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

Job  seemed  to  have  been  ignorant  of  the  existence 
of  the  primary  belief  in  immortality,  although  we 
know  it  to  have  been  familiar  to  those  about  him. 
But  why  should  he  have  referred  to  it?  He  could  not 
have  had  any  use  for  the  traditional  belief;  Sheol 
offered  no  solution  to  the  problems  that  tormented 
him;  it  preserved  nothing  that  he  wished  to  pre- 
serve; it  was  an  altogether  irrelevant  tradition. 

Fifteen  hundred  years  earlier  than  the  Book  of 
Job,  the  Egyptians  were  already  wrestling  with  an 
acutely  painful  sense  of  the  inadequacy  and  mystery 
of  life.  A  most  remarkable  dialogue  of  an  unnamed 
writer  with  his  own  soul  has  been  preserved  to  us. 
The  document  belongs  to  the  Middle  Kingdom  (2160- 
1788)  B.  c.  Unmerited  misfortune  upon  misfortune 
has  fallen  upon  the  unhappy  man.  The  burden  of 
life  has  become  so  heavy  that  he  determines  to  take 
his  life.  But  he  shrinks  from  the  grave  and  enters 
upon  a  long  dialogue  with  his  soul.  The  first  part 
concludes  with  the  philosophy  of  **  eat,  drink,  and  be 
merry  for  to-morrow  we  die.''  From  this,  it  pro- 
ceeds to  demonstrate  that  life,  far  from  being  an  op- 
portunity for  pleasure,  is  more  intolerable  than 
death.  A  terrible  indictment  of  society  follows. 
The  writer  finds  in  it  only  corruption,  dishonesty, 
injustice,  and  unfaithfulness.  It  is  not,  however,  on 
this  note  that  the  tractate  ends.  "  Earlier  in  the 
struggle  with  his  soul,  the  sufferer  had  expressed  the 
conviction  that  he  should  be  justified  hereafter.  He 
now  returns  to  this  conviction  in  the  fourth  poem, 
with  which  the  remarkable  document  closes.  It 
therefore  concludes  with  a  solution  likewise  found 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  HI 

among  those  discerned  by  Job— an  appeal  to  justi- 
fication hereafter."  '' 

National  misfortune  might  vivify  rather  than  de- 
stroy the  conviction  of  an  immortal  national  destmy ; 
but  when  disaster  was  clearly  irreparable  the 
thought  of  a  final  national  triumph  would  seem  sheer 
madness.  Then,  the  individual  was  thrown  back 
upon  himself,  and  dreams  of  a  glorious  earthly  Mes- 
sianic Kingdom  gave  way  before  the  hope  of  a  bless- 
ed immortality  with  God  in  heaven.  As  a  matter  ot 
fact,  the  time  of  the  formation  of  the  new  belief  m 
Palestine  and  in  Greece,  and  of  its  spread  m  Rome, 
was  a  time  of  national  disintegration. 

There  are  few  events  in  the  religious  history  ot 
Israel  so  interesting  and  important  as  the  trans- 
formation, at  the  moment  of  Israel's  greatest  dis- 
couragement, of  the  religion  of  Yahweh  -  the  na- 
tional God  -  into  a  religion  of  the  individual.  As 
this  change  is  of  fundamental  interest  to  the  student 
of  the  origin  of  the  modern  belief  among  the  He- 
brews, I  shall  present  it  at  some  length. 

For  many  generations  and  until  irreparable  dis- 
asters fell  upon  the  nation,  the  greatness  and  happi- 
ness of  Israel  was  sufficient  to  the  worshiper  of 
Yahweh.  His  God  dealt  not  with  individuals  but 
with  the  nation;  his  covenant  was  with  the  nation. 
The  nation  sinned  and  the  nation  was  punished; 
Yahweh  visited  the  virtues  and  vices  of  the  father 
upon  his  children ;  he  smote  the  first  born  m  the 

^"^^AT^man:  Gesprach  eines  Lebensmueden  'fnit  seiner 
Seele  Abtedhm^en  der  Koenigl.  Preuss.  Akad;  Berlin; 
1896  I  follow  the  English  of  Breasted:  loc.  ciL;  pages  191- 
197. 


112  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

land  of  Egypt;  and  because  Ahab  humbled  himself 
before  him,  he  would  not  bring  the  evil  in  his  days, 
but  in  his  son's  days/' 

The  fall  of  the  Northern  Kingdom  and  later  of 
Judah  itself  forced  a  readjustment  of  this  relation, 
— a  readjustment  prepared  by  Amos  and  Hosea 
and  completed  by  Jeremiah.  The  most  important 
outcome  of  the  sore  trial  to  which  Jeremiah's  faith 
was  subjected  by  the  misfortune  of  his  country  was 
the  establishment  of  individual  relations  between 
him  and  Yahweh.  "  The  fate  which  Yahweh  decrees 
for  him  is  complete  isolation.  They  all  abandon  him, 
one  after  another, — his  relatives,  the  King,  the 
priests,  the  prophets,  the  mass  of  the  people,  and 
finally,  even  the  nobles  who  at  first  stood  by  him.  At 
last  only  his  faithful  secretary,  Baruch,  remains, 
and  even  he  is  separated  from  him  by  the  walls  of 
the  prison.  This  isolation  is  Yahweh's  will,  and  is 
rendered  more  acute  by  a  number  of  strict  injunc- 
tions. He  shall  take  no  wife,  he  shall  not  mourn 
with  those  who  mourn,  nor  rejoice  with  those 
who  rejoice  (16:1-8).  Thus  only  Yahweh  Himself 
remains  to  him  for  communion  and  intercourse. 
But  now  we  find  what  we  have  never  met  with  in  any 
prophet  before  this  time.  Jeremiah  \appears  in 
continual  dialogue  with  Yahweh.  He  complains,  he 
contradicts  Him,  contends  with  Him,  defends  him- 
self against  Him,  but  is  ever  worsted  by  Him.  Yet 
in  the  midst  of  his  grief  and  despair  he  awakes  to  the 
consciousness  that  the  words  of  Yahweh  are  really 
the  joy  and  rapture  of  his  heart,  because  Yahweh's 


I  Kings  21 :  29. 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  113 

name  has  been  put  upon  him,  that  is  to  say,  because 
he  is  Yahweh's  possession  (15:16).  'Heal  me, 
Yahweh,  that  I  may  be  healed ;  help  me,  that  I  may 
be  helped,  for  Thou  art  my  praise'  (17:  14).  It 
may  be  said  that  the  true  religion  of  Yahweh  had 
no  other  refuge  in  Jerusalem,  at  the  time  of  its  fall, 
than  the  person  of  Jeremiah.  Here  we  find  a  man 
abandoned  by  the  whole  world  and  in  the  deepest 
depths  of  misfortune,  who  has  intercourse  only  with 
his  God  and  finds  his  sufficiency  in  him."  '' 

Ezekiel  continued  the  development  of  Jeremiah's 
thought.  From  an  individual  relation  with  God,  he 
drew  the  unavoidable  conclusion  that  each  individ- 
ual is  to  be  rewarded  or  punished  according  to  his 
desert.  This  doctrine  permeates  the  Psalms  and  the 
book  of  Proverbs.  But,  when  limited  to  earthly  ex- 
istence, the  doctrine  is  obviously  false,  and  Job  and 
the  author  of  Ecclesiastes  are  up  in  arms  against 
it:  "  All  things  come  alike  to  all,  there  is  one  event 
to  the  righteous  and  to  the  wicked ;  to  the  good  and 
to  the  clean  and  to  the  unclean;  to  him  that  sacri- 
ficeth  and  to  him  tht  sacrificeth  not ;  as  is  the  good, 
so  is  the  sinner;  and  he  that  sweareth,  as  he  that 
feareth  an  oath."  '*  Ezekiel's  doctrine  could  be 
made  true  only  by  positing  another  life  after  death 
in  which  the  injustice  of  this  life  would  be  repaired. 
The  foremost  argument  of  present  believers,  namely 
the  impossibility  of  death  being  the  end  of  man  if 
he  owes  his  existence  and  ideals  to  a  benevolent  Cre- 


'*  Karl  Budde:  The  Religion  of  Israel  to  the  Exile;  pages 
196-197. 

'*  Eccl.  9:2;  comp.  7:  15. 


114  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

ator,  was  implicitly  present  in  the  consciousness  of 
Job,  of  Jeremiah,  and  of  Ezekiel. 

It  does  not  seem  that  the  relation  of  the  great 
gods  of  Egypt  was  at  any  time  during  the  historical 
period  exclusively  with  the  nation;  the  Egyptians 
anticipated  the  Hebrews  in  the  establishment  of  per- 
sonal ethical  relations  with  a  Heavenly  Father.  The 
kings  communicated  with  Re  as  individuals,  more 
than  as  representatives  of  the  nation.  In  any  case 
personal  piety,  with  all  the  characteristics  of 
communion  with  God  known  to  the  writers  of  the 
Palms,  existed  during  the  Restoration  Dy- 
nasty (663-525  B.  c).  It  was  no  longer  the  formal 
affirmation  of  righteousness  made  in  the  Book  of  the 
Dead,  but  a  humble  supplication  for  mercy  and  help 
from  the  great  Shepherd  of  men.  "  Thou  sole  and 
only  one,  thou  Herakhte  who  hath  none  other  like 
him,  protector  of  millions,  savior  of  hundred  thou- 
sands, who  shieldeth  him  that  calleth  upon  him,  thou 
lord  of  Heliopolis ;  punish  me  not  for  my  many  sins. 
I  am  one  ignorant  of  his  own  body,  I  am  a  man  with- 
out understanding.  All  day  I  follow  after  my  own 
dictates  as  the  ox  after  his  fodder.''  **  Come  to  me, 
0  Re-Herakhte,  that  thou  mayest  guide  me ;  for  thou 
art  he  that  doeth,  and  none  doeth  without  thee. 
Come  to  me,  Atum,  thou  art  the  august  god.  My 
heart  goes  out  to  Heliopolis."  Amon  is  often  repre- 
sented as  a  herdsman  leading  his  flock  to  pasture. 
In  some  hymns  in  which  the  worshiper  breaks  out 
in  expressions  of  love  and  yearning  for  communion 
with  his  god,  personal  experience  reaches  the  thresh- 
old of  love  mysticism :   **  0  Amon-Re,  I  love  thee 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  115 

and  I  have  filled  my  heart  with  thee.  .  .  .  Thou  wilt 
rescue  me  out  of  the  mouth  of  men  in  the  day  when 
they  speak  lies;  for  the  Lord  of  Truth,  he  liveth  in 
truth.  I  will  not  follow  the  anxiety  in  my  heart, 
for  that  which  Amon  hath  said  flourisheth."  '' 

The  development  of  a  sense  of  individual  moral 
obligation  towards  the  gods  can  also  be  traced,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era,  in  the  history 'of 
the  Greeks  and  of  the  Romans.  "  Man  is  an  individ- 
ual and  as  such  has  certain  obligations  and  respon- 
sibilities toward  the  gods,"  writes  J.  B.  Carter  in  his 
Religious  Life  of  Ancient  Rome.  "  These  obliga- 
tions are  no  longer  primarily  social;  they  are  dis- 
tinctly personal,  and  man  is  conscious  that  he  has 
not  fulfilled  them.  To  add  to  the  seriousness  of 
the  situation,  not  only  is  human  life  very  short  and 
uncertain  but  the  world  itself  is  coming  to  an 
end."  '' 

The  breaking  down  of  the  national  hope  and  pride, 
the  appearance  of  the  individualistic  spirit  and  of 
personal  relations  with  the  gods,  taken  in  connection 
with  the  realization  of  the  spiritual  greatness  of 
man— a  greatness  which  is  only  the  more  clearly 
implied  in  the  moral  disgust  so  characteristic  of  the 
Romans  of  the  period  to  which  I  have  referred— 
constituted  a  situation  altogether  favorable  to  the 
appearance  of  a  belief  in  a  future  life  conceived  of 
as  a  fulfillment  of  man's  most  precious  ideals. 

^^J  H  Breasted:  Development  of  Religious  Thought  in 
Ancient  Egypt:  New  York;  Scribner;  1912.   Pages  354,  355. 

''  J.  B.  Carter:  The  Religious  Life  of  Ancient  Rome;  page 
74. 


Il6  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

IV.     GREEK  SOURCES  OF  IMMORTALITY.    ECSTASY 

The  origin  of  the  modern  belief  is  often  referred  to 
the  Greek  mysteries  and  to  Plato.  Socrates  had 
nothing  to  teach  on  this  subject.  He  contemplated 
with  apparent  equanimity  two  possibilities :  complete 
unconsciousness,  or  continuation  in  a  world  very 
much  like  the  Homeric  underworld.  Plato,  on  the 
other  hand,  taught  a  lofty  doctrine.  Souls  were 
self-existent,  incorporeal,  simple,  and  eternal  spirits. 
They  were  uncreated,  preexistent  to  the  body,  but 
from  the  first  destined  to  animate  bodies;  which, 
however,  were  not  necessary  to  them,  and  might  de- 
base them.  At  death,  if  the  soul  had  lived  a  noble 
life  of  successful  striving  against  lust  and  other  pas- 
sions generated  by  the  body,  it  underwent  a  period 
of  purgation  in  an  incorporeal  existence,  and  later 
entered  the  glorious  world  of  pure  spirits.  If,  on  the 
contrary,  it  had  suffered  the  corrupting  influence  of 
the  body,  it  was  doomed  to  animate  other  bodies,  low 
or  high,  according  to  the  value  and  dignity  of  its 
preceding  existence.  Reincarnations  followed  each 
other  until  the  soul  had  triumphed  over  the  impedi- 
ments and  temptations  which  come  to  it  from  its 
association  with  the  body. 

This  noble  conception  was  in  no  way  established 
by  Plato  on  a  basis  of  facts,  nor  was  it  logically  de- 
duced from  evident  propositions.  It  bears  all  the 
marks  of  a  creation  of  desire.  The  arguments  ad- 
duced in  its  support  in  the  Phaedrus  are  those  of  a 
moralist  and  poet.  What  Plato  wanted  was  a  doc- 
trine that  satisfied  man*s  highest  aspirations.    As  a 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  117 

matter  of  fact,  this  doctrine  fitted  very  ill  with  an- 
other doctrine  of  this  philosopher,  the  well  known 
doctrine  of  ideas ;  but  he  valued  more  highly  a  scheme 
of  things  satisfying  to  the  heart  and  to  the  will,  than 
one  logically  consistent.  A  desire  to  enlarge  and 
beautify  human  nature  was  the  most  potent  inspira- 
tion of  his  philosophical  thinking.  Hence  the  spell 
exercised  by  Platonic  immortality ;  it  draws  man  on- 
ward towards  realms  he  would  fain  inhabit. 

Despite  important  differences,  the  Platonic  doc- 
trine of  the  soul  includes  what  is  essential  to  the 
Christian  doctrine,  namely  unending  continuation  in 
a  purified  and  glorified  condition.  Preexistence  and 
transmigration,  included  in  the  Greek  conception  and 
excluded  from  the  Christian,  are  from  our  point  of 
view  secondary  differentiations.'' 

But  the  Platonic  doctrine  did  not  really  originate 
with  the  Greek  philosopher.  He  tells  us  himself  that 
he  got  it  from  the  Orphic  priests.  The  immortality 
of  the  soul  and  its  gradual  purification  in  successive 
incarnations  in  bodies  of  men  or  animals,  until 
it  has  freed  itself  completely  from  the  limitations  of 
matter,  was  Orphic  teaching.  We  must  then  look 
back  from  Plato  to  this  Orphic  cult.  It  was  ad- 
dressed to  Dionysos  by  a  sect  that  had  evolved  a 
definite  system  of  religio-philosophic  belief,  the  chief 
article  of  which  was  the  double  composition  of  man ; 


"  The  widest  divergence  between  these  doctrines  appears 
when  Plato  describes  the  disembodied  soul  as  "  pure  reason." 
If  pure  rationality  were  intended  to  involve  the  loss  of  per- 
sonality, Platonic  immortality  could  not  be  assimilated  to  the 
Christian  conception;  for,  without  the  preservation  of  per- 
sonality, immortality  in  the  Christian  sense  does  not  exist. 


118  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

one  part  mortal,  coming  from  the  Titans,  the  other 
divine.  Man's  task  was  to  rid  himself  of  the  titanic 
element,  which  corresponded  to  the  body,  in  order  to 
return  pure  to  God.  The  deliverance  of  the  soul 
could  not  be  achieved  suddenly,  nor  without  the  help- 
ing mediation  of  Orpheus,  who,  let  it  be  noted,  de- 
manded, as  condition  of  salvation  from  rebirth,  a 
pure  life. 

But  if  we  know  that  the  belief  in  immortality  con- 
stituted the  essential  tenet  of  the  Orphic  cult,  we 
do  not  know  how  it  came  to  be  there.  There  are 
undeniable  Pythagorean  elements  in  the  cult,  and 
it  is  not  impossible  that  its  main  tenets  should  have 
come  from  the  far  east  where  transmigration  was  a 
widespread  belief  long  before  it  appeared  in  Greece. 
However  that  may  be,  the  cult  of  Dionysos  intro- 
duced an  element  unknown  to  any  other  Grecian 
cult.  I  allude  to  the  frenzy  that  possessed  its  de- 
votees. "  The  celebration  took  place,'*  says  Rohde, 
"  in  the  dead  of  night  on  the  mountain  tops  by  the 
flickering  light  of  torches.  Noisy  music  resounded ; 
the  pealing  tones  of  cymbals,  the  hollow  thunder  of 
great  timbrels  mingled  with  the  frenzy-summoning 
harmony  of  the  deep  voiced  flutes.  Stirred  by  this 
wild  music,  the  crowd  of  worshipers  danced  and 
shouted  in  exultation.  We  have  no  mention  of 
songs ;  for  these,  the  vigorous  dancing  left  no  breath. 
The  dance  was  not  the  rhythmic  dance  with  which 
perhaps  the  Greeks  of  Homer's  age  accompanied 
their  peans,  but  a  frenzied,  whirling,  plunging  sort 
of  round  dance  in  which  the  crowd  of  inspired  de- 
votees rushed  forward  over  the  hill  slopes.    For  the 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  119 

most  part  it  was  women,  oddly  clad,  who  whirled 
about  in  these  dances  to  the  point  of  exhaustion. 
They  wore  hassaren,  long  flowing  garments,  appar- 
ently made  of  fox-skins ;  over  these  they  wore  deer 
skins  with  the  horns  sometimes  remaining  on  the 
head.  .  .  .  Thus  do  they  rave  until  they  have 
reached  the  utmost  excitement.  In  this  '  holy  mad- 
ness'  they  rush  upon  the  animals  chosen  for  the 
sacrifice,  and  seize  and  rend  them,  and  tear  off  with 
their  teeth  the  bloody  flesh,  which  they  devour 
raw."  ''  In  the  ecstasy  of  their  excitement,  the 
worshipers  thought  themselves  divine  or  at  least 
possessed  by  the  god. '' 

If  the  practices  I  have  described  were  new  in 
Greek  religion  at  the  time  of  the  introduction  of  the 
worship  of  Dionysos,  ecstatic  intoxication  had  long 
been  an  essential  part  of  old  Indie  worship.  In  the 
cult  of  Soma,  the  priests,  if  not  the  people,  became 
intoxicated  from  drinking  a  preparation  of  the  moon- 
plant  and  thought  themselves  possessed  of  divine 
power.  Practices  aiming  at  a  similar  result  exist 
among  present  day  savages.  "  In  nearly  every  sav- 
age tribe  we  find  a  knowledge  of  narcotic  plants 


'' Erwin  Rohde:  Psyche;  Seelencult  iind  Unsterblichkeits- 
glaube;  Tubingen;  1907;  4th  Ed.;  Vol.  II.  pages  9,  10. 

'*  The  relation  that  existed  in  the  Greek  mind  between  ec- 
stasy and  the  divine  is  well  known.  Plato  wrote  in  the 
Phsedrus,  "  There  is  a  possession  and  a  madness  inspired  by 
the  Muses,  which  seizes  upon  a  tender  and  a  virgin  soul,  and, 
stirring  it  up  to  rapturous  frenzy,  adorns  in  ode  and  other 
verse  the  countless  deeds  of  elder  time  for  the  instruction  of 
after  ages.  But  whosoever  without  the  madness  of  the  Muses 
comes  to  knock  at  the  doors  of  poesy,  from  the  conceit  that 
haply  by  force  of  art  he  will  become  an  efficient  poet,  de- 
parts with  blasted  hopes,  and  his  poetry,  the  poetry  of  sense, 
fades  into  obscurity  before  the  poetry  of  madness." 


120  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

which  were  employed  to  induce  strange  and  vivid 
hallucinations  or  dreams.  .  .  .  The  Negroes  of  the 
Niger  had  their  '  fetish  water,'  the  Greek  Indians  of 
Florida  their  '  black  drink/  for  this  purpose.  In 
many  parts  of  the  United  States  the  natives  smoked 
stramonium,  the  Mexican  tribes  swallowed  the  pey- 
otl  and  the  snake-plant,  the  tribes  of  California  and 
the  Samoyeds  of  Siberia  had  found  a  poisonous  toad- 
stool; all  to  bring  about  communication  with  the 
Divine  and  to  induce  ecstatic  visions/' '"  The  In- 
dians of  New  Mexico  who  are  "  unacquainted  with 
intoxicating  liquors  .  .  .  find  drunkenness  in  the 
fumes  of  a  certain  herb  smoked  through  a  stone 
tube  and  used  chiefly  during  their  religious  festi- 
vals/' '' 

One  may  venture  the  generalization  that  every- 
where, at  every  level  of  development,  states  of  intoxi- 
cation are  regarded  as  religious  states  par  excel- 
lence." Why  this  extraordinary  association  of  ec- 
stasy with  the  divine?  The  ready  answer  is  that 
ecstasy,  whether  it  be  produced  by  physical  or  by 
psychical  means,  inspires  a  conviction  of  superhu- 
man, limitless  power;  that  it  brings  visions  and, 
with  them,  belief  in  the  power  of  performing  won- 
drous deeds:  healing,  destroying  enemies,  forecast- 
ing the  future,  etc.    That  such  is  the  belief  of  those 


'"  David  Brinton:r/ie  Religion  of  Primitive  Peoples;  page 
67. 

''  H.  H.  BancYoit'.Native  Races;  Vol.  I,  pages  566,  567. 

"  In  a  book  on  religious  mysticism  now  in  preparation  will 
be  included  an  essay  on  ecstasy  and  intoxication  in  religion. 
I  shall  therefore  leave  undeveloped  several  points  which  I 
should  otherwise  discuss  here. 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  121 

who  indulge  in  the  religious  practices  referred  to,  is 
well  established. 

In  so  far  as  the  cult  of  Dionysos  is  regarded  as 
transforming  the  worshiper  into  a  divinity  merely 
during  ecstasy,  it  does  not  offer  anything  unusual. 
But  when  one  attributes  to  these  Orphic  rites  the 
origin  of  belief  in  immortality,  one  derives  from 
them  more  than  we  know  to  have  come  from  like  ex- 
periences among  savage  populations.  Thus,  if  the 
Mexican  Indians  thought  themselves  divine  while  un- 
der the  influence  of  their  sacred  plant,  they  did  not 
imagine  that  thereby  the  boon  of  passing  after  death 
to  the  dwelling  of  the  gods  was  conferred  upon  them. 
It  may  seem  to  us  that  once  divine,  must  necessarily 
mean  always  divine.  But  when  we  keep  in  mind  that 
the  phenomena  incident  to  intoxication  were  the 
mark  of  divinity,  we  realize  that  with  their  disap- 
pearance the  worshiper  must  have  thought  himself 
human  again.  The  idea  of  temporary  possession  by 
the  God  fitted  the  experience. 

There  is,  however,  no  insuperable  difficulty  in  ad- 
mitting that  a  proof  of  man's  final  redemption  should 
have  been  seen  in  the  transformation  taking  place  in 
the  worshiper  during  possession  by  the  God,  pro- 
vided a  sufficiently  strong  and  clear  desire  be  present 
for  a  blessed  immortality.  In  populations  that  had 
not  reached  a  sufficient  mental  and  moral  develop- 
ment to  possess  this  desire,  the  intoxication-experi- 
ence remained  without  significance  regarding  life 
after  death.  The  ethical  conditions  of  salvation  im- 
posed in  the  Orphic  mysteries  make  clear  that  Greek 
consciousness  had  already  reached  a  high  degree  of 


122  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

moral  sensitiveness;  and  we  know  that  at  the  time 
in  question  the  realization  of  the  insufficiency  of  this 
life  prompted  men  in  Greece,  as  it  did  in  Egypt  and 
in  Palestine,  toward  belief  in  the  fulfillment  of  hu- 
man personality  after  death. 

In  any  case,  and  whether  or  not  a  belief  in  a 
blessed  immortality  originated  independently  in 
Greece  out  of  ecstatic  experiences  and  a  realization 
of  the  inadequacy  of  this  life,  or  whether  it  was  im- 
ported from  India  through  Pythagorean  teaching, 
the  ecstatic  experience  is  a  factor  essentially  differ- 
ent from  the  ethical  forces  we  saw  at  work  in  the 
consciousness  of  the  Hebrew  seers.  It  is  character- 
ized by  a  consciousness  of  absence  of  impediments  to 
the  realization  of  desire,  of  limitless  power,  of  infini- 
tude,— this,  rather  than  intense  emotion,  is  the  most 
impressive  aspect  of  ecstasy,  as  well  as  the  funda- 
mental fact  in  religious  mystical  experiences  of  every 
sort. 

Wherever  it  appeared  ecstasy  was  a  powerful  ally, 
if  not  the  cause,  of  the  the  will-to-believe  in  a  blessed 
immortality;  but  it  may  be  said  without  hesitation 
that  it  was  not  a  necessary  factor.  Even  in  its 
absence,  the  modern  conception  of  immortality  would 
have  taken  shape  in  men's  minds.  If  any  proof  of 
this  was  wanted,  the  Hebrews  would  provide  it. 

According  to  Rohde,  the  fundamental  incompati- 
bility between  the  old  belief  in  Hades  and  the  new 
belief  in  immortality  consists  in  the  affirmation  of 
*'  immortality  "  made  by  the  latter.  This  seems  to 
me  an  error  that  mars  a  work  admirable  in  many 
ways.    If  the  soul  is  immortal,  says  Rohde,  then  it  is 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  123 

in  its  essential  property  identical  with  the  gods;  it 
belongs  to  their  realm.  Who,  in  Greece,  says  eter- 
nal, says  divine;  these  terms  are  interchangeable. 
That  is  the  true  reason  why  in  the  religion  of  the 
Greek  people  the  divine  plan  separated  for  all  time, 
in  space  as  in  essence,  the  world  of  gods  and  the 
world  of  men :  the  gods,  and  the  gods  alone  are  im- 
mortal." For  this  reason,  in  Rohde's  opinion, 
Greek  religion  could  neither  grow  into  the  new  belief 
nor  accept  it  if  presented  to  it,  unless  a  new  exper- 
ience, a  revelation,  overcame  the  conviction  funda- 
mental to  the  old  religion.  The  ecstasy  of  Dionysiac 
worship  proved  to  be  the  necessary  revelation. 

To  regard  immortality  as  the  particular  boon  se- 
cured by  the  new  belief  in  survival,  as  Rohde  does, 
is  to  miss  the  mark.  We  have  seen  in  an  earlier 
chapter  that  in  the  old  belief  the  shades  lived  on  an 
existence  usually  of  indefinite  duration,  and  also  that 
the  idea  of  finitude  was  not  repellent  to  the  savages. 
They  were  not  disturbed  when  the  idea  occurred  to 
them  that  their  ghostly  selves  were  not  immortal. 
According  to  their  stories,  some  ghosts  died,  and 
others  continued  endlessly.  Immortality  interested 
them  little :  the  important  question  was  the  behavior 
towards  themselves  of  the  ghost  that  survived. 

At  a  higher  stage  of  development,  the  situation 
was  still  the  same  with  respect  to  immortality.  The 
Babylonians  did  not  bemoan  the  mortality  of  the 
shades,  but  their  miserable  existence.  So  did  the 
Hebrews.  It  is  the  descent  to  Aralu  and  to  Hades, 
not  the  possible  destruction  of    the     shades,     that 


Rohde:  Loc  cit;  Vol  II;  pages  1-37. 


124  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

afflicted  these  populations.  In  the  religion  of  the 
Nether  God,  the  Egyptian  found  himself  in  a  simi- 
lar situation.  Nowhere  was  the  essential  mortality 
of  the  soul  credited,  and  everywhere  its  unlimited 
continuation  was  admitted  either  for  all  men,  or 
at  least  for  special  classes  of  men. 

The  desire  that  arose  at  a  certain  moment  and 
grew  in  intensity  in  every  one  of  the  nations  we 
have  considered,  was  not  for  immortality  as  such 
hilt  for  a  future  life  which  would  fulfill  affective  and 
ethical  cravings.  Nothing  short  of  a  "  divine  "  exis- 
tence could  do  that.  With  the  exception  of  Plato  and 
a  few  other  metaphysicians,  men  would  have  held 
the  promise,  of  an  undeterminate  existence — a  hun- 
dred or  a  thousand  years — in  the  glorious  company 
of  the  gods,  equal  to  the  "  immortality  "  they  are  said 
to  have  believed  in.  Did  not  Job  find  profound  con- 
solation in  the  hope  of  meeting  God  face  to  face  for 
a  single  moment?  The  metaphysicians  themselves, 
I  surmise,  would  have  sung  the  future  millennium 
with  all  the  superlatives  at  their  command,  and,  for 
the  rest,  would  have  taken  pride  in  the  generosity  of 
the  prospective  but  distant  surrender  of  their  fully 
realized  personality.  Who  could  be  so  insatiable  as 
to  complain  of  sudden  and  painless  annihilation  at 
the  end  of  1000  years  of  heaven?  In  any  case,  ab- 
solute immortality  is  not  to  be  talked  of  when  one 
is  concerned  with  religious  life.  It  belongs  to  meta- 
physical  speculation. 

I  do  not  mean  to  deny  by  the  foregoing  remarks 
that  Plato  and  other  protagonists  of  the  new  belief 
thought  of  a  never  ending  existence,  but  merely  that 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  125 

that  was  not  the  essential  gain  secured  by  the  ex- 
change of  the  old  for  the  new  belief. 

V.  THE  ABSENCE  OF  CONTINUITY  BETWEEN  THE 
PRIMARY  AND  THE  MODERN  BELIEF  IN  IM- 
MORTALITY 

When  surveying  the  historical  development  of  the 
beliefs  in  immortality,  one  cannot  but  wonder  at  the 
absence  of  continuity  between  the  primary  and  the 
modern  belief.  Although  one  finds  among  savage 
populations  rudiments  of  the  idea  of  a  heavenly  para- 
dise and  of  social  and  moral  retribution  in  a  life 
after  death,  nevertheless,  when,  during  the  centuries 
immediately  preceding  the  Christian  era,  the  mod- 
ern belief  made  its  appearance  among  peoples  far 
above  savagery,  it  presented  itself  as  something  new. 

Why  did  the  primary  notion  of  continuation  as- 
sume more  and  more  definitely  a  repulsive  form  in- 
stead of  being  gradually  transformed  into  the  mod- 
ern conception?  In  the  presence  of  this  difficulty, 
we  must  recall  that  between  a  belief  born,  as  the 
modern  belief  was,  of  desire  for  the  realization  of 
moral  ideas,  and  one  forced  upon  men  irrespective 
of  their  wishes  by  the  phenomena  I  have  named, 
there  is  no  likeness  whatsoever  beyond  the  mere  idea 
of  continuation.  The  earlier  belief  appears  as  an  un- 
avoidable interpretation,  devoid  of  any  moral  sig- 
nificance, of  facts  directly  perceived ;  the  other  is  a 
creation  of  desire.  The  one  came  to  point  ex- 
clusively to  a  wretched  and  painful  existence;  the 
other  contemplated  from  the  first  endless  contin- 
uation in  a  state  of  increased  or  of  completed  per- 


126  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

fection,  and  it  incited  the  living  to  ceaseless  efforts 
in  order  to  make  themselves  fit  for  that  blessed  con- 
summation. 

If  one  keeps  in  mind  these  different,  even  diver- 
gent characteristics,  the  failure  of  the  one  belief 
gradually  to  pass  into  the  other  ceases  to  astonish. 
Progressive  development  is  possible  only  when  the 
later  bears  to  the  earlier  the  relation  of  flower  to 
seed.  No  such  relation  holds  between  the  two  con- 
ceptions of  immortality.  The  effect  upon  the  pri- 
mary belief  of  the  desire  for  happiness  and  moral 
completion,  noticeable  among  some  savages,  had  no 
permanent  success  because  it  was  antagonistic  to 
dominant  characteristics  inherent  to  that  belief. 

A  cursory  view  of  Egyptian  religions  might  sug- 
gest that  in  that  land,  if  not  elsewhere,  primary  and 
modern  immortality  were  genetically  related.  But 
a  fuller  knowledge  seems  to  compel  the  rejection  of 
this  opinion.  Our  earliest  information  already  in- 
dicates the  presence  of  two  religions,  that  of  the 
Nether  God  and  that  of  the  Sun  God.  In  the  first, 
the  belief  in  survival  bears  all  the  marks  of  primary 
continuation.  In  the  second,  immortality  is  akin  to 
the  modern  belief  both  in  origin  and  character;  it 
springs  from  desire,  and  it  promises  happiness.  It 
differs  from  the  modern  belief  in  the  inconspicuous- 
ness  of  the  moral  element  and  in  the  presence  of  a 
requirement  unknown  to  the  modern  belief:  the 
earthly  body  must  be  somehow  kept  together  and 
tended,  otherwise  life  will  be  extinguished  or  re- 
duced to  a  miserable  existence.  I  have  had  occasion 
to  indicate  how,  with  the  recognition  of  moral  values, 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  127 

the  conditions  of  admission  to  the  sky  were  moral- 
ized, and  the  future  life  was  looked  upon  as  realizing 
a  state  of  moral  perfection  as  well  as  of  physical 
well  being. 

The  two  Egyptian  conceptions  of  continuation 
after  death  were  thus  parts  of  two  different  and  an- 
tagonistic religions;  one,  identical  to  primary  im- 
mortality, belongs  to  the  populace;  the  other,  in 
essential  features  similar  to  the  modern  belief,  be- 
longs to  the  nobles. 

But  if  the  two  conceptions  of  continuation  may 
not  be  regarded  as  possessing  a  common  source,  they 
existed  side  by  side  for  many  centuries.  Even  to- 
day, there  are  Christians  who  believe  in  ghosts.  It 
is  not  usually  recognized  how  incongruous  the  ghost 
belief  is  with  the  idea  of  the  future  life  officially  ac- 
knowledged by  the  church.  According  to  Christian 
teaching,  immediately  after  death  or  after  sojourn 
in  purgatory,  the  souls  go  to  heaven  where  they  en- 
joy a  blessed  communion  with  Christ,  or  to  hell 
where  they  suffer  dread  torments.  They  are  in  no 
case  supposed  to  remain  on  earth  or  to  return  to  it 
and  roam  about  human  habitations.  Roaming  ghosts 
are  of  another  lineage  than  Christian  spirits ;  they 
are  survivals  of  the  primary  conception  of  continua- 
tion. 

The  popular  belief  in  haunted  places  and  appari- 
tions persists,  although  in  opposition  to  the  modern 
belief,  because  dreams  and  visions,  to  which  the  old 
belief  was  originally  due,  have  still  the  power  to 
vivify  ancient  folk-tales. 


128  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

But  what  of  the  Christian  hell  ?  Is  it  not  a  direct 
continuation  of  the  later  form  of  the  primary  con- 
ception? I  do  not  think  that  it  should  be  so  re- 
garded, for  the  essential  significance  of  hell  belongs 
no  more  than  the  essential  character  of  heaven  to  the 
primary  belief  in  continuation.  According  to  the 
primary  idea,  as  it  existed  in  the  countries  we  have 
considered,  the  dwelling  of  the  dead  is  never  a  place 
of  punishment  —  it  has  no  moral  significance  at  all ; 
whereas  the  essential  character  of  hell  is  that  it  is  a 
place  of  punishment  for  evil  done  in  this  life. 

Hell  belongs  to  the  new  conception  as  the  counter- 
part of  heaven.  The  hatred  of  the  bad  is  a  corollary 
of  the  love  of  the  good ;  and  the  infliction  of  suffer- 
ing is  a  crude  vv^ay  of  expressing  hatred  of  evil  and 
of  protecting  oneself  and  those  one  loves  against 
danger.  The  constitution  of  the  Christian  hell,  like 
that  of  the  old  style  prison,  is  quite  innocent  of  any 
intention  to  reform.  The  motives  that  created  hell 
are  the  same  that  have  built  jails;  self -protection, 
retribution  and  hatred.  Christian  consciousness 
seeking  an  adequate  expression  for  its  imperfect 
sense  of  retributive  justice  and  its  hatred  of  sin 
and  sinners,  may,  however,  have  remembered  the 
vague,  joyless  underworld  of  the  ancients. 

The  only  other  noteworthy  solution  of  the  prob- 
lem of  death  was  developed  in  or  near  India.  There, 
the  idea  of  repeated  embodiments  of  the  Karma  took 
the  place  of  one  earthly  existence  continued  in 
heaven.  I  wish  a  study  of  the  Hindoo  conception  of 
continuation  after  death  and  of  the  ultimate  fate 
of  man  might  have  been  included  in  this  volume. 


CHAPTER   V 

THE   DEDUCTIVE    DEMONSTRATION   OF 
MODERN  IMMORTALITY 

I.     THE  METAPHYSICAL  ARGUMENTS. 

The  primary  and  the  modern  beliefs  were  both  at 
first  naive  beliefs,  uncritically  accepted ;  the  former 
resting  upon  an  apparent  direct  sensory  apprehen- 
sion of  the  fact  of  survival,  the  latter  upon  profound 
and  intense  yearnings  for  it.  But  when,  in  the 
course  of  time,  the  habit  of  critical  reflection  had 
been  formed,  neither  dreams  and  visions,  nor  crav- 
ings could  longer  be  regarded  as  convincing  grounds 
of  belief.  In  this  situation  an  effort  was  made  to 
legitimize  the  modern  faith  in  survival  by  placing 
it,  above  individual  desire,  upon  a  universally  valid 
foundation.  This  effort,  continued  for  centuries, 
produced  the  so-called  "  metaphysical  proofs "  of 
immortality.' 


*  The  several  classes  of  factors  which  produce  and  main- 
tain belief  are  brought  out  by  the  following  illustration.  I 
know  a  laborer  who  is  tormented  by  the  desire  to  make 
money.  Some  time  ago,  he  showed  me  a  heavy  mass  of  dark 
gray  sand  which  he  had  extracted  from  the  bottom  of  an  old 
well.  He  thought  the  sand  contained  gold,  and  had  spent 
much  time  and  money  in  order  to  establish  the  truth  of  his 
belief.  A  desire  for  wealth  was  at  the  root  of  this  man's 
conviction;  but  the  desire  alone  would  not  have  suggested 
the  idea  that  the  sand  contained  gold.  It  was  of  great  weight 
and  he  had,  moreover,  observed  in  it  brilliant  yellow  parti- 
cles. Therefore,  even  though  many  reasons  were  urged 
against  his  conviction,  he  believed  that  he  had  found  gold. 
He  did  not,  of  course,  rest  content  at  this  point.  He  wanted 
a  scientific  demonstration  of  the  truth  of  his  belief,  and  ac- 

129 


130  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

An  important  fact  to  bear  in  mind  concerning 
these  proofs  is  that  they  were  elaborated  at  a  time 
when  the  conceptions  of  an  immortal  blessed  future 
was  generally  familiar ;  hence,  they  did  not  originate 
the  conception;  no  more  did  they  usually  produce 
belief,  they  merely  attempted  to  justify  the  exist- 
ing belief.  The  relation  of  the  belief  in  immortality 
to  the  arguments  for  it,  is  similar  to  that  of  Chris- 
tian beliefs  in  general  to  the  demonstration  of  their 
truth  by  the  scholastics.  The  church  affirmed  re- 
vealed truths,  and  the  philosophers  set  about  show- 
ing their  agreement  with  reason. 

Metaphysical  arguments  are  instances  of  deductive 
reasoning  which  differs  in  kind  from  inductive  rea- 
soning in  that  the  former  derives  the  proposition  to 
be  established  from  some  more  inclusive  proposition 
regarded    as    self-evident,    or    as    already   proved; 


cordingly  he  had  the  sand  analyzed.  When  a  reliable  chem- 
ist reported  the  absence  of  gold,  he  placed  samples  in  other 
hands.  Despite  several  concordant  negative  analyses,  this 
man  has  not  yet  altogether  given  up  hope. 

Three  factors  are  to  be  observed  in  this  situation:  a  com- 
pelling desire  for  gold,  the  direct  observation  of  certain  facts 
(weight,  color)  interpreted  as  signifying  the  presence  of 
gold,  and  an  effort  to  verify  the  report  of  the  senses  and 
thus  prove  scientifically  the  realization  of  the  desire. 

These  three  factors  need  not  be  present  in  every  belief. 
Usually,  however,  the  beliefs  of  cultivated  people  are  sup- 
ported by  factors  of  these  three  kinds;  such,  for  instance,  is 
the  case  of  the  modern  belief  in  immortality.  Failure  to 
keep  in  mind  these  several  roots  of  belief  is  responsible  for 
much  fruitless  discussion.  Sensory  demonstration  leaves  us 
indifferent  unless  desire  or  repulsion  is  awakened.  One  of 
the  practical  consequences  of  the  importance  of  desire  in  the 
matter  of  belief  is  that,  in  order  to  convince,  it  is  usually 
much  more  efficacious  to  incite  desire  than  to  demonstrate 
truth.  Every  one  knows  that  to  convince  is  easy  when  the 
will  to  be  persuaded  is  present;  while  the  minutest  flaw  as- 
sumes gigantic  proportions  in  one  averse  to  belief. 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  131 

whereas  an  inductive  demonstration  is  made  by  way 
of  generalization  from  the  observation  of  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  facts.  It  follows  from  the  nature 
of  a  deductive  proof  that,  however  strictly  logical  it 
may  be,  there  remains  always  the  previous  question 
of  the  truth  or  adequacy  of  the  major  premise  upon 
which  hangs  the  whole  demonstration. 

My  task  does  not  involve  a  study  of  the  validity  of 
the  metaphysical  arguments;  I  am  concerned  only 
with  the  various  influences  that  make  for  belief, 
whether  logically  legitimate  or  not.  And  since  the 
metaphysical  arguments  are,  as  we  shall  see,  so  far 
discredited  that  even  the  most  eager  believers  in 
immortality  admit  their  inadequacy,  I  might  say 
nothing  more  about  them.  Their  influence  is  limited 
not  only  by  their  weakness,  but  also  by  the  ignor- 
ance in  which  most  men  remain  of  them,  and  still 
more  by  the  general  indifference  to  metaphysical 
arguments.  Most  men  find  their  way  by  a  long 
process  of  trial  and  error;  they  blunder  into  "  pro- 
gress "  by  following  lines  of  least  resistance,  dis- 
covered by  chance.  Desire  for  logical  consistency 
and  intellectual  clarity  is  but  an  occasional  itch 
easily  relieved  by  a  haphazard  scratch. 

Had  the  metaphysical  arguments  never  been  for- 
mulated, the  hold  of  the  belief  would  not,  I  surmise, 
have  been  materially  different ;  I  shall,  nevertheless, 
outline  the  more  important  of  these  arguments,  add- 
ing, when  it  seems  worth  while  and  when  it  can  be 
done  without  entering  into  too  lengthy  statements, 
the  main  objections  that  may  be  raised  against  them. 
But  since  this  is  on  my  part  work  of  supereroga- 


132  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

tion,  let  no  one  find  fault  with  me  for  incompleteness 
or  lack  of  thoroughness.  Any  one  with  a  marked 
dislike  for  the  rattling  of  dry  bones  had  better  read 
only  the  section  on  the  Moral  Argument,  and  pass 
on  to  the  next  chapter ;  the  others  may,  as  they  pro- 
ceed with  these  notes,  find  it  interesting  to  ascertain 
how  far  their  own  attitude  towards  the  belief  in  im- 
mortality has  been  influenced  one  way  or  another  by 
these  arguments." 

ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  SPIRITUAL  NATURE  OF  ALL 

REALITY 

I  begin  with  the  argument  for  idealism,  although 
it  does  not  really  demonstrate  the  immortality  of  in- 
dividual beings,  but  merely  of  Mind. 

In  the  main,  this  argument  is  familiar ;  it  gets  its 
start  in  the  observation  that  the  physical  world  is 
known  through  sensation  and  in  no  other  way. 
Now,  sensation  is  a  mental  experience.  It  would 
seem  to  follow  that  the  so-called  physical  world,  as 
far  at  least  as  we  can  know  anything  about  it,  is 


'  "  The  whole  of  the  prevalent  metaphysics  of  the  present 
century  is  one  tissue  of  suborned  evidence  in  favor  of  reli- 
gion .  .  .  involving  a  misapplication  of  noble  impulses  and 
speculative  capacities.  .  .  .  It  is  time  to  consider  more  im- 
partially and  therefore  more  deliberately  than  is  usually 
done,  whether  all  this  straining  to  prop  up  beliefs  which  re- 
quire so  great  an  expense  of  intellectual  toil  and  ingenuity 
to  keep  them  standing,  yield  any  sufficient  return  in  human 
well  being;  and  whether  that  end  would  not  be  bgtter  served 
...  by  the  application  of  the  same  mental  powers  to  the 
strengthening  and  enlargement  of  those  other  sources  of 
virtue  and  happiness  which  stand  in  no  need  of  the  support 
or  sanction  of  supernatural  beliefs  and  inducements."  — 
John  Stuart  Mill:  On  the  Utility  of  Religion., 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  133 

after  all  of  the  nature  of  mind,  i.  e.,  that  the  Uni- 
verse is  in  essence  of  one  substance,  that  of  spirit. 

The  argument  encounters  a  serious  difficulty  when 
it  is  affirmed  that  sensation  need  not  resemble  the 
physical  reality  to  which  it  is  due,  for  the  cause  need 
not  resemble  its  effect.    The  physical  world,  known 
in  sensation,  need  not  therefore  be  of  the  mental 
order;  it  may  be  of  an  altogether  different  nature  to 
sensation.    But  this  difficulty  may  be  overcome ;  for 
it  can  be  proved,  the  argument  affirms,  that  although 
the  cause  of  sensation  need  not  resemble  sensation, 
the  existence  of  the  physical  world  as  a  subtance 
implies  its  kinship  to  the  nature  of   spirit.     The 
conclusion  of  the  matter  is,  that  "  all  substance  must 
possess  certain  characteristics  which  are  essential 
to  the  nature  of  spirit.''     Thus  the  apparent  dual- 
ism, matter  and  spirit,  is  transcended :  an  idealistic 
monism  is  reached. 

But  this  argument,  supposing  it  to  be  valid,  leads 
to  the  eternal  self-existence  of  Mind,  not  of  each 
individual  mind.  The  ablest  representatives  of  the 
idealistic  philosophy  have  not  claimed  more.  The 
opinion  of  Hegel,  for  instance,  is  stated  thus  by 
Andrew  Seth: 

"  The  Hegelian  system  is  as  ambiguous  on  the 
question  of  man's  immortality  as  on  that  of  the  per- 
sonality of  God,  and  for  precisely  the  same  reason 
—namely,  because  the  self  of  which  assertions  are 
made  in  the  theory  is  not  a  real  but  logical  self. 
Hence,  although  passages  may  be  quoted  which 
seem  direct  assertions  of  immortality,  they  are 
found,  on  further  examination,  to  resolve  themselves 


134  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

into  statements  about  the  Absolute  Ego,  or  the  unity 
of  self-consciousness  as  such.  The  Ego,  it  is  argued, 
is,  in  a  strict  sense,  timeless  or  out  of  time,  and 
it  becomes  absurd,  therefore,  to  apply  time  pre- 
dicates to  it  and  to  speak  of  its  origin  or  decease. 
As  applied  to  the  immortality  of  the  individual  self, 
however,  this  argument  proves  nothing  ...  it  is 
the  immortality  of  the  Absolute  Self  which  it  proves. 
In  like  manner  Aristotle  maintained  the  eternity 
of  Active  Reason,  and  Averroes  the  immortality  of 
the  intellect  identical  in  all  men.  Spinoza,  too, 
spoke  of  the  pars  oeterna  nostri.  In  no  other  sense 
does  Hegel  speak  of  the  immortality  of  *  man  as 
spirit ' — an  immortality  or  eternity  which  he  is  at 
pains  to  designate  as  a  *  present  quality,'  an  actual 
possession.' 

"  Death  as  a  finality  is  the  demonstration  of  the 
delusion  of  belief  in  the  universe  as  intelligible." 
This  sentence  from  Lotze,  another  great  represent- 
ative of  Absolute  Idealism,  might  be  construed  into 
an  unqualified  affirmation  of  the  immortality  of  indi- 
vidual souls.  That  it  should  not  be  so  construed 
appears  clearly  in  the  following  passage: 

"  The  soul  is  to  be  viewed  as  the  substantial  and 
permanent  subject  of  the  phenomena  of  our  inner 
life.  But  that,  because  the  soul  is  the  abiding  sub- 
stance of  these  phenomena,  it  must  therefore  be  en- 
dowed with  an  eternal  and  imperishable  duration, 
as  the  privilege  of  its  nature — the  unprejudiced 
mind  will  never  be  convinced  of  the  certainty  of  that 


*  Hegelianism  and  Personality;  1893.     Pages  235-238. 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  135 

inference.  .  .  .  We  have  no  warrant  for  assuming 
that  what  once  is  must  necessarily  always  be.  .  .  . 
Then  if  the  connection  of  our  other  views  tends  so 
strongly  to  make  us  see  in  all  finite  things  but  cre- 
ations of  the  Eternal,  it  is  impossible  that  the 
destinies  of  the  individual  can  be  other  than  accord- 
ing to  the  dictates  of  the  whole.  That  will  last 
forever  which  on  account  of  its  excellence  and  its 
spirit  must  be  an  abiding  part  of  the  universe ;  what 
lacks  that  preserving  worth  will  perish.  We  dare 
not  judge  and  determine  which  mental  development 
wins  immortality  by  the  eternal  significance  whereto 
it  has  raised  itself,  and  to  which  this  is  denied.  We 
must  not  seek  to  decide  either  whether  all  animal 
souls  are  perishable,  or  all  human  souls  imperish- 
able, but  take  refuge  in  the  belief  that  to  each  being 
right  will  be  done."  * 

ARGUMENT   FROM   THE   SIMPLICITY  OF  THE   SOUL 

In  following  another  line  of  thought,  which  I  shall 
not  reproduce,  one  comes  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
soul  is  one  and  indivisible.  This  admitted,  its  inde- 
structibility is  said  to  follow,  for  only  that  which 
is  made  up  of  parts  can  be  decomposed  and  thus 
destroyed.  Already  Plato  had  advanced  this  argu- 
ment. It  was  taken  up  among  others  by  Berkeley. 
After  claiming  to  have  shown  that  the  soul  is  indi- 
visible, incorporeal,  unextended,  he  adds: — 

"  Nothing  con  be  plainer  than  that  the  motions, 
changes,  decays,  and  dissolutions  which  we  hourly 
see  befall  natural  bodies  (and  is  what  we  mean  by 


*  Microcosmus;  Book  III,  chap.  V,  pages  389,  390. 


136  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

the  course  of  nature)  cannot  possibly  affect  an 
active,  simple,  uncompounded  substance;  such  a 
being  therefore  is  indissoluble  by  the  force  of  nature ; 
that  is  to  say  —  the  soul  of  man  is  naturally  im- 
mortal." A.  C.  Frazer,  who  quotes  the  above,  adds, 
"  Bishop  Butler  takes  for  granted  that  all  assump- 
tion of  death's  being  the  destruction  of  living  beings 
must  go  upon  the  supposition  that  they  are  com- 
pounded and  so  disruptible."  ' 

The  unsoundness  of  the  argument  from  the  sim- 
plicity and  individuality  of  the  soul  was  shown  by 
Kant/  According  to  him,  neither  logic  nor  science 
can  demonstrate  immortality.  It  is  a  practical 
postulate.  Holiness,  or  perfection,  is  required  of 
us  by  the  moral  law.  Of  this  perfection  we  are 
incapable  at  any  moment  of  earthly  existence.  It 
is  only  possible  on  the  supposition  of  an  endless 
duration  of  the  individual  being  upon  whom  the 
requirement  is  imposed.  Immortality  is  thus  seen 
to  be  inseparably  connected  with  the  moral  law,  i.  e., 
it  is,  in  Kantian  terms,  a  postulate  of  pure  practical 
reason,  not  a  truth  logically  demonstrable.' 

Despite  Kant's  disproof,  the  argument  from  the 
simplicity  of  the  soul  still  enjoys  some  vogue.  It 
reappears  today,  for  instance,  in  the  crude  philo- 
sophical writings  of  the  distinguished  physicist. 
Sir  Oliver  Lodge,  who  claims  permanence  "  for  the 
essence,  the  intrinsic  reality,  the  soul  of  anjrfching, 
and  transitoriness  for  its  bodily  presentment — 1.  e., 


'  A.    C.    Frazer :    Selections    from    Berkeley :    Clarendon 
Press;  1891.     Pages  142,  143. 

'  Book  II,  chap.  I,  of  the  Transcendental  Dialectic. 

''  Crit.  of  Practical  Reason;  Dialectic;  Chap.  II,  sect.  4, 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  137 

for  all  such  things  as  special  groupings,  arrange- 
ments, systems,  which  are  liable  to  break  up  into 
their  constituent  elements."  One  might  point  to 
this  scientist  as  a  striking  instance  of  how  recklessly 
metaphysical  arguments  are  made  to  serve  desires. 
In  the  paper  from  which  I  have  just  quoted,  we  are 
told  that  whatever  really  "exists  in  the  highest 
sense  "  is  immortal.  "  We  have  only  to  ask  whether 
our  personality,  our  character,  our  self,  is  suf- 
ficiently individual,  sufficiently  characteristic,  suf- 
ficiently developed — in  a  word,  sufficiently  real;  for 
if  it  is,  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  its  continuance."  ' 
I  might  add  that  individuality,  which  appears  in  the 
above  quotation  as  a  test  of  immortality,  was  for 
Aristotle,  and  for  the  Absolute  Idealists  after  him, 
the  very  mark  of  transitoriness : — 

*'  Individuality  (the  being  unum  numero  in  a 
species)  and  immortality  are  in  his  view  incompat- 
ible facts ;  the  one  excludes  the  other.  In  assigning 
(as  he  so  often  does)  a  final  cause  or  purpose  to  the 
widespread  fact  of  procreation  of  species  by  animals 
and  vegetables,  he  tells  us  that  every  individual  liv- 
ing organism,  having  once  attained  the  advantage 
of  existence,  yearns  and  aspires  to  prolong  this  for- 
ever, and  to  become  immortal.  But  this  aspiration 
cannot  be  realized.  Nature  has  forbidden  it,  or  is 
inadequate  to  it;  no  individual  can  be  immortal. 
Being  precluded  from  separate  immortality,  the  in- 
dividual approaches  as  near  to  it  as  is  possible,  by 
generating  a  new  individual  like  itself,  and  thus  per- 
petuating the  species.  .  .  .  Nous  is  immortal;  but 

•  Uihhert  Journal,  Vol.  VI;  1908.    Y'^g^?  291-304;  564-565, 


138  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

the  individual  Sokrates  considered  as  noetic  or  in- 
tellectual, can  no  more  be  immortal  than  the  same 
individual  considered  as  sentient  or  reminiscent."  ' 

The  Stoics  held  a  similar  opinion.  According  to 
their  teaching,  the  individual  soul  does  not  possess 
independent  activity,  but  will  be  ultimately  resolved 
into  the  primary  substance,  the  Divine  Being. 

ARGUMENTS  FROM  AN  INTELLIGENT  NON-MORAL,  AND 
FROM  AN  INTELLIGENT  AND  MORAL  FIRST  CAUSE 

Under  this  heading  we  may  separate  three  argu- 
ments. 

(a)  From  the  necessary  presence  in  God  of  an 
idea,  Spinoza,  whose  Absolute  was  Non-Moral,  de- 
duced in  the  following  manner  the  eternal  existence 
of  individual  souls : — 

"  In  God  there  necessarily  exists  a  conception  or 
idea  which  expresses  the  essence  of  the  human  mind. 
This  conception  or  idea  is  therefore  necessarily 
something  which  pertains  to  the  essence  of  the 
human  mind.  But  we  ascribe  to  the  human  mind 
no  duration  which  can  be  limited  by  time,  unless  in 
so  far  as  it  expresses  the  actual  existence  of  the 
body,  which  is  manifested  through  duration,  and 
which  can  be  limited  by  time,  that  is  to  say,  we  can- 
not ascribe  duration  to  the  mind  except  while  the 
body  exists. 

"  But,  nevertheless,  since  this  something  is  that 
which  is  conceived  by  a  certain  eternal  necessity 


Grote's  Aristotle;  1883.    Page  490. 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  139 

through  the  essence  itself  of  God,  this  something 
which  pertains  to  the  essence  of  the  mind  will  neces- 
sarily be  eternal."  '" 

(b)  The  Moral  Argument. — The  existence  of  a 
moral  God  being  assumed,  it  is  argued  that  the  Uni- 
verse must  have  a  moral  purpose.  If  the  Creator 
is  at  the  same  time  benevolent  and  righteous,  he  can- 
not have  endowed  man  with  a  nature  from  which 
proceed  needs  and  ideals  unrealizable  because  utterly 
at  variance  with  reality.  There  must  be,  therefore, 
it  is  claimed,  a  way  by  which  the  demands  of  reason, 
love,  and  justice  are  to  be  gratified,  and  this  is  im- 
possible if  individual  life  ends  with  death.  This  is 
the  argument  which  has  gained  the  widest  circula- 
tion. Martineau  calls  it  the  ''  real  evidence."  ^' 
On  the  other  hand,  it  is  urged  upon  us  that  whoever 
believes  in  God,  must  also  believe  in  survival  of 
death ;  for,  without  survival  the  Universe  could  not 
be  regarded  as  the  expression  of  a  divine,  benevolent 
purpose. 

Andrew  Seth  formulates  the  argument  thus: — 
"  For,  according  to  the  theory  that  human  self- 
consciousness  is  but  like  a  spark  struck  out  in  the 
dark  to  die  away  presently  upon  the  darkness 
wherein  it  has  arisen,  the  universe  consists  essen- 
tially in  the  evolution  and  reabsorption  of  transi- 
tory forms— forms  that  are  filled  with  knowledge 
and  shaped  by  experience,  only  to  be  emptied  and 

'"  Prop.  22,  pt.  5;  13,  pt.  2;  corol.  prop.  8,  pt.  2;  22,  pt.  5; 
23  pt  5;  W.  Hale  White:  Spinoza's  Ethics:  Oxford  Univ. 
Press;  4th  ed.;  1910.     Page  269. 

"James  Martineau:  A  Study  of  Religion.  Vol.  II,  page 
367,  ^ 


140  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

broken  by  death.  But  it  is  a  mockery  to  speak  as 
if  the  universe  had  any  real  or  worthy  End,  if  it 
is  merely  the  eternal  repetition  of  this  Danaid  labor. 
And  an  account  which  contradicts  our  best-founded 
standards  of  value,  and  fails  to  satisfy  our  deepest 
needs,  stands  condemned  as  inherently  unreasonable 
and  incredible."  '"  ^ 

Compare  with  the  above  this  passage  taken  from 
F.  C.  S.  Schiller: 

"  In  our  present  phase  of  existence  the  moral  life 
cannot  be  lived  out  to  its  completion,  it  is  not  per- 
mitted to  display  its  full  fruitage  of  consequences 
for  good  and  for  evil.  Whenever  Might  triumphs 
over  Right ;  whenever  the  evildoers  succeed  and  the 
righteous  perish;  whenever  goodness  is  trampled 
under  foot  and  wickedness  is  exalted  to  high  places ; 
nay,  whenever  the  moral  development  of  character 
is  cut  short  and  rendered  vain  by  death, — we  are 
brought  face  to  face  with  facts  which  constitute  an 
indictment  of  cosmic  justice,  which  are  inconsistent 
with  the  conception  of  the  world  as  a  moral  order. 
Unless,  therefore,  we  can  vindicate  this  order  by 
explaining  away  the  facts  that  would  otherwise 
destroy  it,  we  have  to  abandon  the  ethical  judgment 
of  the  world  of  our  experience  as  good  or  bad ;  we 
have  to  admit  that  the  ideal  of  goodness  is  an  il- 
lusion of  which  the  scheme  of  things  recks  not  at 
all. 

"  But  if  we  refuse  to  do  this  (and  whether  we  are 
not  bound  to  refuse  to  abandon  our  ideals  at  the 


^'Andrew  Seth:  Hegelianism  and  Personality. 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  141 

first  show  of  opposition  will  presently  be  consid- 
ered), how  shall  the  ethical  harmony  be  restored  if 
not  by  the  supposition  of  a  prolongation  and  per- 
fection of  the  moral  life  in  the  future?     Only  so 
can  character  be  made  of  real  significance  in  the 
scheme  of  things;  only  so  is  it  something  worth  pos- 
sessing, an  investment  more  permanent  and  more 
decisive  of  our  weal  and  woe  than  all  the  outward 
goods   men  set  their  hearts  upon,   rather  than  a 
transitory  bubble  to  whose  splendor  it  matters  not 
one  whit  whether  it  be  pure  translucence  refracting 
the  radiance  of  the  sunlight,  or  the  iridescent  film 
that  coats  decay."  '' 

The  outcome  of  these  considerations  is  the  neces- 
sity of  immortality  if  the  world  is  to  be  conceived 
as  rational,  or  as  having  a  worthy  end.     Short  of 
this,  we  are  told,  the  moral  life  cannot  be  lived  out. 
Therefore  immortaUty  is  declared  a  inoral  postu- 
late.    Assuming  for  the  present  the  truth  of  this 
last  momentous  aflfirmation,  the  question  remains 
whether  man  is  actually  to  continue  after  death,  or 
whether  the  ideal  of  goodness  is  never  to  be  fulfilled. 
The  ethical  argument,  as  stated  in  the  preceding 
quotations,  does  not  solve,  it  merely  forces  the  di- 
lemma upon  us.    It  is  only  when,  instead  of  affirm- 
ing merely  the  necessity,  for  the  gratification  of 
human  needs  and  desires,  of  the  existence  of  a  moral 
God  or  Order  and  therefore   of  immortality,   one 
affirms  in  addition  his  existence,  that  a  satisfactory 
solution  is  gained.    But  these  two  affirmations  are 

'  ''Humanism,  Philosophical  Essays:  London;  1903.  Pages 
252-254. 


142  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

far  from  equivalent;  the  existence  of  a  certain  kind 
of  God  may  involve  necessarily  the  satisfaction  of 
man's  ideal  desires,  but  the  presence  of  these  de- 
sires does  not  necessiate  the  existence  of  that  God: 
desires  may  be  disappointed. 

Let  it  be  observed  that  there  is  great  danger  here 
of  reasoning  in  a  circle..  One  may  start  from  the 
human  moral  constitution  and  its  demands,  and 
affirm  that  they  imply  the  existence  of  a  moral 
Creator.  Then  one  may  declare  it  impossible  for 
such  a  God  not  to  fulfill  the  expectations  he  has 
placed  in  man.  , 

Variations  in  the  form  of  this  argument  appear 
when  it  is  written  from  the  point  of  view  of  evolu- 
tionary development  and  from  that  of  the  preserva- 
tion of  values.  In  the  first  case,  it  is  affirmed  that 
the  history  of  animal  forms  discloses  the  intention 
on  the  part  of  their  Designer  to  produce  conscious, 
moral  beings.  How  then,  admit  that  he  would  allow 
a  purpose  so  plainly  inscribed  in  animated  nature, 
to  be  baffled  by  death?  In  the  second  case,  it  is 
claimed  that  a  moral  Creator  must  have  intended 
the  preservation  of  moral  values.  Now,  all  the  high- 
est values  are  bound  up  with  personality;  none  of 
the  virtues  may  be  conceived  as  existing  otherwise 
than  in  persons.  How,  then,  could  God  permit  the 
stupendous  waste  which  would  be  involved  in  the 
destruction  of  personality  at  death?'* 


^*  Immortality  derived  from  the  idea  of  permanent  values 
is  frequently  held  to  be  not  for  all  men,  but  for  the  worthy 
only.  Man  is  mortal  until  a  wonderful  something  is  born  in 
him,  and  then  he  becomes  immortal,  destined  to  continue 
forever  the  ascent  begun  on  this  earth.  The  difficulties  raised 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  143 

Two  remarks  remain  to  be  made:      (1)    In  the 
forms  of  it  which  we  have  examined,  the  validity  of 
the  moral  argument  is  conditioned  by  that  of  the 
affirmation  upon  which  it  rests,  namely,  that  the 
Universe  is  the  expression  of  an  intelligent,  pur- 
posive, and  benevolent  Will.     (2)  Even  though  this 
should  be  satisfactorily  established,  the  argument 
itself  would  contain  a  fatal  flaw.     For,  as  Lotze 
remarked,  the  divine  purpose  assumed  in  the  argu- 
ment might,  at  least  in  the  case  of  some  persons, 
be  fully  achieved  in  this  life,  and  thus  make  immor- 
tality    superfluous.     ''We     dare    not,"     says    he 
**  judge  and  determine  which  mental  development 
wins  immortality  by  the  eternal  significance  whereto 
it  has  raised  itself  and  to  which  this  is  denied.*' 

Attempts  have  been  made  to  overcome  the  weak- 
ness inherent  in  an  argument  presupposing  the  ex- 
istence of  a  moral  God  by  resting  the  proof  of 
immortality  directly  upon  facts  of  the  moral  life 
in  general  or,  more  specifically  upon  the  "  prin- 
ciple "  of  the  conservation  of  moral  values,  or  yet 
upon  the  gradual  development  of  intellectual  and 
moral  consciousness  in  the  animal  and  human  world. 

by  this  notion  are  stupendous.  Whence  this  germ  of  immor- 
tality? How  are  we  to  conceive  its  nature  and  how  to  under- 
stand its  tremendous  etfect  upon  the  individual?  Shall  we 
hold  that  doctrinal  beliefs,  or  good  works,  or  righteousness 
of  purpose  differentiate  those  who  have  won  immortality. 
If  in  all  the  voluminous  literature  dealing  with  conditional 
imortality,  there  is  no  satisfactory  answer  to  the  many  prob- 
lems raised  by  this  hypothesis,  ^yho  will  wonder? 

Among  the  best  works  supporting,  from  the  Christian  point 
of  view,  conditional  immortality,  I  note  the  following:  —  Ur. 
Van  Oosterzee:  Christian  Dogmatics;  Canon  Gore:  The  Epis- 
tle to  the  Romans;  W.  W.  Clarke:  Christian  Theology;  Dr. 
E    Petavel:  The  Problem  of  Immortality. 


144  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

The  facts  of  the  moral  life,  it  is  said,  demand  the 
continuation  of  life  after  death  just  as  the  facts  of 
the  physical  universe  demand  the  presence  of  an 
invisible  ether  that  fills  all  interstellar  space.  To 
reason  in  this  wise  is  to  desert  the  deductive  for  the 
inductive  method,  the  metaphysical  for  the  scientific 
procedure.  Any  religious  "  truth  "  established  in 
this  manner  would  possess  the  kind  of  reality  which 
belongs  to  the  hypotheses  of  science.  But  the 
apologists  or  religious  beliefs  who  claim  for  them 
the  validity  belonging  to  scientific  propositions, 
do  not  usually  intend  to  place  religious  truths 
in  the  precarious  position  of  hypotheses.  They 
have  in  mind  the  kind  of  validity  belonging  to  scien- 
tific lawf^.  This  is  quite  another  thing.  The  hy- 
pothesis of  the  ether  and  the  law  of  the  reflection  of 
rays  of  light  by  polished  surfaces,  do  not  stand  on 
the  same  level  of  certitude.  The  latter  does  not 
run  the  risk  of  being  replaced  by  another  law;  it 
is  final.  No  proposition  can  claim  this  absolute 
validity  that  is  not  empirically  verifiable.  This 
verification  —  in  the  strict  sense  in  which  science 
demands  it  —  cannot  be  provided  for  most  religious 
truths.^' 

The  scientist's  belief  in  fixed  causal  connections, 
for  instance,  can  actually  be  shown  to  correspond 
to  reality.  Scientific  investigation  demonstrates, 
wherever  it  penetrates,  orderly  sequence  and  quan- 

""  I  know  that  I  shall  be  contradicted  by  many  on  the 
ground  of  their  own  "  experience."  These  persons  will  have 
occasion  to  see  below,  in  the  discussion  of  Professor  Bacon's 
affirmation  concerning  immortality,  why  their  "  experience  " 
may  be  misleading. 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  145 

titative  relations.  The  more  searching  the  investi- 
gation, the  fuller  and  the  more  precise  is  the  demon- 
stration. If  any  one  thinks  it  worth  while  to  remark 
that  no  scientific  demonstration  of  the  intelligibility 
of  the  Universe  is,  or  can  be  complete,  since  man 
will  never  know  the  whole  of  the  Universe,  the  ob- 
vious answer  is  that,  given  the  constitution  of  the 
human  mind,  the  continuous  success  of  science  in 
establishing  definite  unchangeable  relations  is 
enough  to  warrant  the  assurance  that  the  assumption 
which  we  cherish,  because  of  our  need  of  order,  is 
legitimate.  Not  only  do  we  want  order,  but  we  find 
it  wherever  we  look  for  it.  No  corresponding  state- 
ment may  be  made  concerning  the  existence  of  an 
alleged  moral  order  and  of  personal  immortality. 
We  do  not  find  moral  order  wherever  we  seek  for  it, 
and  we  have  not  been  able  to  verify  the  belief  in 
immortality. 

Evolutionary  science  has  made  clear  many  things, 
but,  alas,  it  has  not  uncovered  the  ultimate  designs 
of  Nature;  and  John  Fiske's  argument  is  lame  un- 
less it  be  made  to  turn  upon  the  existence  of  a  per- 
sonal God :  — 

"  From  the  first  dawning  of  life  we  see  all  things 
working  together  toward  one  mighty  goal,  the  evo- 
lution of  the  most  exalted  spiritual  qualities  which 
characterize  Humanity.  .  .  .  The  more  thoroughly 
we  comprehend  that  process  of  evolution  by  which 
things  have  come  to  be  what  they  are,  the  more  we 
are  likely  to  feel  that  to  deny  the  everlasting  per- 
sistence of  the  spiritual  element  in  Man  is  to  rob 
the  whole  process  of  its  meaning."    "  The  case  may 


146  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

be  fitly  summed  up  in  the  statement  that  whereas 
in  its  rude  beginnings  the  psychological  life  was  but 
an  appendage  to  the  body,  in  fully  developed  Hu- 
manity the  body  is  but  the  vehicle  for  the  soul."  '* 

When  we  consider  not  merely  what  has  taken 
place  on  this  planet  since  man's  appearance  on  it, 
but  also  the  numberless  other  worlds  at  various 
stages  of  frigidity  or  organic  activity,  we  do  not 
find  it  possible  to  read  in  the  brief  span  of  human 
evolution  an  indication  of  an  irrevocable  purpose  on 
the  part  of  a  Power  directing  the  Universe.  And, 
even  if  there  be  rational  guidance,  may  not  the  form 
of  consciousness  known  to  man  be  a  transitory  stage 


'*  The  Destiny  of  Man;  1887.     Pages  113-116,  65. 

I  am  reminded  here  of  the  pathetic  queries  of  a  worthy 
lady  who  could  not  reconcile  the  Christian  God  of  her  cate- 
chism with  what  she  saw  about  her.  For  twenty-five  years 
this  person  succeeded  in  overcoming  the  doubts  suggested  by 
her  experiences  with  a  wicked  world.  After  each  new  inner 
discussion,  she  would  find  again  what  she  calls  her  "  pilgrim's 
staff,"  i.  e.,  her  confidence  in  a  Providence.  A  new  and  more 
perplexing  experience  than  any  of  the  preceding  finally  broke 
her  staff,  and  led  her  to  this  na'ive  solution  of  the  problem 
of  the  relation  of  God  to  the  world.  "  There  came  into  my 
mind,"  she  writes,  "  as  clear  as  day  that  the  contradiction 
between  an  all-good  and  all-powerful  God  and  that  which 
happens  in  the  world,  is  due  simply  to  the  fact  that  God  is 
absent  from  the  world.  He  is  indeed  the  Great  Creator  of 
whom  the  heavens  declare  the  glory.  He  is  indeed  the  Father 
of  humanity,  a  tender  Father  who  loves  us.  .  .  .  If  God  were 
really  in  the  world,  he  would  not  be  idle,  leaving  his  children 
exposed  to  all  their  enemies  without  and  within.  He  would 
not  be  blind  and  unjust,  making  the  tower  of  Shiloh  fall  on 
the  passers-by  who  were  no  more  guilty  than  others.  From 
the  point  of  view  of  our  sufferings  even,  it  is  most  sweet  and 
consoling  to  feel  that  God  is  an  absent  Father.  This  last 
hypothesis  lifts  a  heavy  weight  from  my  heart,  for  an  absent 
father  is  no  less  a  father." — Th.  Flournoy:  Observations  de 
Psychologie  Religieuse;  Observation  IV.;  A7'chives  de  Psy- 
chologie  de  la  Suisse  Romande;  1903.    Vol.  II,  pages  342-347. 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  147 

to  something  else,  we  know  not  what ;  leading  some- 
where, we  know  not  whither? 

But  if  human  intelligence  has  not  been  able  to 
demonstrate  a  moral  purpose  in  every  part  of  the 
Universe,  there  is  no  doubt  of  the  presence  in  man 
of  a  moral  trend  or  will.  This  is  as  well  authen- 
ticated as  any  scientific  fact.  Morality,  so  far  as 
we  know  anything  about  it,  has  its  origin  in  human 
consciousness  and  grows  pain  passu  with  social  life. 
Can  we  now  with  the  same  assurance  with  which  we 
affirm  that  causal  sequence,  i.  e.,  intelligibility,  be- 
longs throughout  to  the  Universe,  assert  also  that 
morality  is  of  its  essence,  co-extensive  with  it,  and 
like  it  everlasting?  Evidently  not.  We  can  affirm 
only  that  moral  tendencies  come  into  existence,  and 
that  ideals  gradually  actualize  themselves  in  human 
society:  morality  appears  as  co-extensive  with  it. 
So  far  and  no  further  does  science  go ;  it  can  merely 
affirm  that  morality  is  in  process  of  formation  and 
contingent  upon  circumstances  no  more  permanent 
than  the  circumstances  which  make  bodily  life  pos- 
sible. We  may  all  desire  that  the  Universe  be  in- 
formed with  benevolence  and  justice,  and  some  may 
even  think  they  cannot  live  on  worthily  and  con- 
tentedly unless  it  be  so;  but  for  that  belief  science 
provides  at  present  no  justification. 

II.  THE  ACKNOWLEDGED  INSUFFICIENCY  OF  THE 
DEDUCTIVE  ARGUMENTS  AND  THE  FALLING 
BACK  UPON  DIRECT  "INNER  EXPERIENCE" 
OF  IMMORTALITY 

Of  the  arguments   we  have   reviewed,  only  the 

ethical  argument  and  those  drawn  from  evolution 


148  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

and  from  the  conservation  of  values  enjoy  some  de- 
gree of  influence  to-day,  but  not  one  of  them,  nor 
all  together,  is  generally  admitted  among  educated 
believers  in  immortality  as  an  adequate  proof.  The 
contemporary  v^orld  has  grown  suspicious  of  these 
arguments,  and  all  that  even  the  believer  will  claim 
is  that  at  most  they  create  a  presmnption  in  favor 
of  immortality/'  *'  The  hope  of  immortality ''  is 
a  favorite  expression  with  theologians  who  are  them- 
selves believers.  The  Rev.  Washington  Gladden 
speaks  for  the  leaders  of  liberal  orthodoxy  in  the 
United  States  when  he  writes,  after  setting  forth 
arguments  for  immortality,  that  his  belief  is  "of 
course,  a  glorious  hope,  a  confidence,  a  strong  ex- 
pectation; it  can  be  nothing  more.'' '' 


'^  There  are,  I  know,  a  few  dissident  voices  among  those 
who  have  a  right  to  the  consideration  of  the  serious  student. 
McTaggart,  for  instance,  writes  in  Some  Dogmas  of  Re- 
ligion, page  111,  "  Yet,  I  think  that  reasons  for  the  belief 
in  immortality  may  be  found  of  such  strength  that  they 
should  prevail  over  all  difficulties."  It  is  to  be  noticed  that 
this  acute  thinker  holds  that  the  arguments  for  preexistence 
are  as  strong  as  those  for  existence  after  death.  If  so,  the 
prevalence  in  Christian  countries  of  this  last  belief  and  the 
almost  total  absence  of  the  former,  offers  a  striking  illus- 
tration of  the  effect  of  desire  upon  belief. 

' '  From  a  "  Symposium  on  Immortality  "  in  the  Congre- 
gationalist,  Boston,  1904.  See  also  The  Christian  Hope;  A 
Study  of  the  Doctrine  of  Immortality  by  Wm.  A.  Brown, 
professor  at  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York;  Scrib- 
ner;  1912. 

If,  nevertheless,  I  continue  to  speak  of  the  "  belief  "  in, 
and  not  of  the  "  hope  "  of,  immortality,  it  is  for  the  sufficient 
reason  that  in  reality  belief  and  hope  run  into  each  other: 
few  beliefs  are  complete  and  constant,  and  few  hopes  do  not 
grow  at  times  into  assurances.  Those  who,  on  surveying  the 
grounds  for  the  belief  in  immortality,  conclude  that  they 
warrant  no  more  than  a  hope,  are  not  usually  able  to  main- 
tain consistently  that  critical  attitude. 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  149 

Whence  this  marked  change  in  the  attitude  of 
the  Christian  world?  Indications  connect  the 
change  with  a  weakening  of  the  belief  in  a  moral 
Creator  and  with  the  diffusion  of  stricter  standards 
of  scientific  demonstration. 

An  interesting  double  outcome  of  the  new  attitude 
towards  deductive  arguments  is  that,  on  the  one 
hand,  men  have  sought  with  renewed  energy  a  scien- 
tific demonstration  of  immortality ;  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  have  felt  compelled  to  rely  more  and  more 
for  an  assurance  of  it  upon  what  they  call  *'  inner 
experience,''  i.  e.,  an  experience  they  think  outside 
the  pale  of  science.  We  shall  consider  in  the  next 
chapter  the  scientific  search  for  immortality;  at 
present,  let  us  address  ourselves  to  the  curious  effort 
made  to  get  rid  of  science  and  overcome  skepticism 
by  an  appeal  to  inner  experience. 

If  metaphysical  arguments  can  no  longer  be  re- 
lied upon,  where  shall  man  find  the  assurance  he 
needs?  "In  his  own  heart  and  conscience,"  is  the 
reply.  The  reader  will  observe  that  this  answer 
reflects  the  Ritschlian  attitude.  When  it  was  at 
last  clearly  realized  that  science  was  an  enemy  to 
certain  Christian  dogmas,  and  that  philosophy  could 
not  be  relied  upon  to  defend  them,  Ritschl  embraced 
the  only  remaining  possibility :  he  claimed  a  divorce 
both  from  science  and  from  metaphysics  and 
affirmed  that  theology  was  to  be  erected  exclusively 
upon  facts  of  immediate  inner  experience.  "We 
are,"  say  the  Ritschlians,  "to  take  our  stand  where 
Jesus  took  his  stand,  not  upon  logic,  but  upon  the 


150  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

experience  of  the  heart  in  its  relation  to  God/'  ^^ 
I  have  pointed  out  that  this  strategic  move,  instead 
of  delivering  theology  from  science,  implies  a  sur- 
render into  the  hands  of  psychology.  -^ 

The  typical  quotations  which  follow  will  serve  to 
show  both  that  metaphysics  and  scientific  arguments 
are  held  to  be  insufficient,  and  that  theologians  seek 
to  make  themselves  independent  from  scientific  crit- 
icism in  order  to  find  a  supposedly  unshakable 
ground  of  belief  in  inner  experience.  I  give  the 
views  not  of  professional  philosophers,  but  of  lead- 
ers and  teachers  among  Christian  believers,  for  it 
is  with  them  that  we  are  concerned. 

"  I  find,  as  time  goes  on,'*  writes  the  Rev.  Theo- 
dore Munger,  "that  the  reasons  for  belief  in  im- 
mortality once  held,  while  they  do  not  wholly  give 
way,  yield  to  personal  experience  of  it.  One  reason 
of  this  change  is  that  as  immortality  belongs  to  the 
order  of  existence — a  natural  and  not  a  miraculous 
fact — it  must  be  realized  in  one's  own  experience, 
like  every  other  truth  in  human  life — that  is,  it  is 
revealed  through  life.     While  this   is  a   growing 


'*  In  a  recent  book,  Die  Religionspsychologische  Methode 
in  Religionswissenschaft  und  Theologie,  Professor  Georg 
Wobbermin  claims  that  theolo^  and  reli^on  are  invulnerable 
to  science  and  to  philosophy.  By  way  of  demonstration  of 
this  claim,  he  sets  down  an  old  fashioned  dogma:  "  Affirma- 
tions of  faith  provide  the  highest  possible  ground  for  assur- 
ance in  the  objective  existence  of  God,  and  for  the  truth  of 
the  Biblical  revelation."  I  have  reviewed  that  book  at  some 
length  in  the  Social  and  Religious  Psychology  number  of  the 
Psychological  Bulletin,  Dec,  1915. 

'"A  Psychological  Study  of  Religion;  Chapter  XI  —  The- 
ology and  Psychology.  See  on  "  The  Theology  that  is  a 
Branch  of  Psychology,"  the  Harvard  Theological  Review  for 
Oct.,  1916. 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  151 

feature  in  Christian  consciousness,  there  are,  in 
my  own  case,  two  unlike  facts  attending  it  that 
have  not  only  strong  weight  of  evidence,  but  great 
spiritual  uplift  and  comfort.  I  can  but  name 
them. 

"  The  first  is  drawn  from  the  revelation  of  God 
in  creation.  The  one  purpose  in  creation  from  the 
first  has  been  to  produce  man.  Endless  ages  for 
production;  a  few  years  and  he  goes  out  of  exist- 
ence! The  improbability  of  this  is  so  great  that  it 
sweeps  away  all  the  difficulties  that  cluster  about 
death.  .  .  .  The  other  fact  is  the  consciousness  of 
Christ.  I  do  not  refer  to  his  authoritative  word, 
nor  to  his  resurrection,  however  it  be  interpreted, 
but  to  the  spontaneous  and  natural  way  in  which  he 
assumed  the  continuance  of  life  forever.  It  was 
never  a  question  with  him,  and  hence  he  said  so  little 
about  it.  He  predicates  immortality  as  naturally 
as  a  bird  predicates  flight  when  it  feels  its  wings. 
It  had  its  ground  in  his  absolute  consciousness  of 
the  fatherhood  of  God;  if  he  is  the  Father,  how 
can  he  suffer  his  children  to  go  out  of  existence? 
This  seems  to  me  to  be  the  rock  on  which  our  hope 
of  immortality  is  based.*'  " 

A  professor  of  theology  in  one  of  the  foremost 
Presbyterian  schools  of  the  United  States  is  con- 
vinced that  *'  our  human  personal  immortality  can- 
not be  proved  as  a  fact,  compelling  assent  after  the 
fashion  of  proofs  in  physical  or  even  in  purely  in- 
tellectual  matters."      The   arguments   customarily 


*^  From  a  symposium  published  in  the  Congregationalist; 
Boston;  1904. 


152  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

adduced  are  well  nigh  "  utterly  futile."  Where- 
from,  then,  shall  the  proof  of  immortality  come? 
The  professor's  answer  is: — 

"  Any  soul  must  come  to  grasp  this  truth  of  im- 
mortality by  the  way  of  first  realizing  it  as  a  truth 
of  its  own  very  self,  its  being,  its  own  life.  .  .  .  The 
simple  truth  is  that  I  must  first  have  the  reality 
of  immortality  as  an  assurance  included  in  my  con- 
sciousness of  my  own  being  and  life."  But  yet,  how 
am  I  to  know  immortality? 

"As  the  truth  of  myself."  ''  In  large  measure, 
I  must  come  to  realize  immortality  as  of  myself  by 
the  presence  consciously  in  me  of  those  things  I  in- 
stinctively sense  as  eternal,  the  immortal  things,  the 
things  that  have  natural  congruousness  with,  and 
so  suggest,  the  idea."  .  .  .  "  There  are  things  that 
the  soul  feels  instinctively  as  eternal,  immortal 
things.  .  .  .  The  only  way  to  have  the  sense  of  im- 
mortality within  oneself  is  simply  to  live  immortally. 
The  soul  must  be  kept  clear — negatively — of  the 
things  of  thought  and  life  that  are  unfitted  to  im- 
mortality, and  must  cultivate  and  develop  within 
itself  positively  the  thoughts  and  dispositions  and 
tastes  and  moods  that  are  most  naturally  fitted  to 
the  thoughts  and  the  sense  of  it. 

"  Put  into  any  soul,  any  life,  the  things  that  made 
up  the  soul,  the  life,  of  Jesus  Christ;  let  the  hu- 
mility, the  purity,  and  the  self-forgetting  love,  the 
devotion  to  the  Father,  that  were  in  the  soul  of 
Christ,  filling  all  his  consciousness  of  himself  and 
making  up  his  life — let  these  things  and  their  kind 
fill  the  conscious  being  of  any  man,  and,  in  so  far 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  153 

as  this  is  done,  he  will  tend  to  carry  in  himself  the 
sense  of  his  own  Immortality."  " 

This  is  as  full  a  statement  as  I  have  read  of  the 
meaning  of  '*  falling  back  upon  inner  experience." 
As  this  argument  is  now  frequently  met  with  in  the 
religious  press,  and  as  it  finds  credence  even  among 
distinguished  professors  of  theology,  it  deserves 
critical  consideration.  It  will  be  sufficient  for  our 
purpose  to  discuss  the  possible  meaning  of  the  sense 
of  one's  own  immortality,  which  is  said  to  be  pro- 
duced in  those  who  "  sense  as  eternal "  the  virtues 
of  humility,  purity,  and  self -forgetting  love. 

What  are  the  characteristics  of  **  the  sense  of  im- 
mortality"?    When  we  speak  of  feeling  young  or 
old,  well  or  ill,  we  mean  definite  experiences  marked, 
in  the  case  of  health,  by  clearness  of  sensation,  quick- 
ness and  vigor  of  motor  response,  relish  for  food, 
pleasant  tone  of  consciousness,  etc. ;  and,  in  the  case 
of  illness,  by  pain,   motor  sluggishness  and   un- 
steadiness, diminished  appetite,  general  inertia,  un- 
pleasant tone  of  consciousness,  etc.    The  expression 
"  immortality  feeling  "  can  not  mean  in  the  passage 
quoted  any  one  or  several  of  the  ordinary  experi- 
ences, some  of  which  have  just  been  named;  for  it 
designates  an  alleged  unique,  specific  feeling.     Let 
us  admit  for  the  sake  of  argument  that  such  a  feel- 
ing exists.    There  remains  an  insuperable  difficulty, 
namely,  the  passage  from  the  feeling  itself  to  the 
conviction  that  it  signifies  the  immortality  of  the 
individual  experiencing  it.    For,  of  course,  a  feeling 

''  Edward  Everett  Bacon :  "  The  Argument  for  Immortal- 
ity"; The  Outlook;  New  York;  June  29,  1912. 


154  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

is  in  itself  nothing  but  a  subjective  experience.  If, 
when  suffering  from  what  is  called  a  feeling  of  ill- 
ness, I  say  that  my  body  is  not  in  good  order,  I 
inter'pret  the  particular  feeling  or  feelings.  This 
I  am  able  to  do  correctly  because  of  the  frequent 
connections  I  have  established  between  my  feelings 
and  my  physiological  condition.  I  have  found,  for 
instance,  that  when  a  certain  feeling  was  present,  I 
could  not  walk  without  fatigue,  I  could  not  make 
certain  movements  without  pain,  I  did  not  desire 
food,  and  suffered  if  I  ate.  Furthermore,  men  of 
science  have  established  by  observations  and  experi- 
ments, similar  correlations  between  certain  feelings 
and  the  condition  of  certain  organs  of  the  body; 
correlations  which  in  part  have  become  known  to 
the  laity.  Therefore  I  say  now  with  confidence, 
when  I  have  these  feelings,  "  My  body,"  or  "  this 
part  of  my  body,  is  disordered."  But  my  knowl- 
edge of  the  disorganization  of  the  bodily  machine 
is,  of  course,  not  the  feeling  of  illness.  The  former 
might  exist  without  the  latter.  A  striking  instance 
of  this  is  provided  by  the  pronounced  sense  of  well- 
being  experienced  by  sufferers  from  progressive 
paralysis. 

Has  correspondence  ever  been  observed  between 
a  specific  feeling  experienced  in  this  life  and  the 
continuation  after  death  of  those  possessing  it?  No 
one  ever  had  the  opportunity  of  observing  that  per- 
sons who  had  enjoyed  the  alleged  feeling,  or  had 
practiced  the  virtues  said  to  induce  the  feeling  of 
immortality — humility,     purity,     self-forgetfulness 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  155 

etc. — had  actually  survived  death.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  no  one  (spiritualists  perhaps  excepted)  pre- 
tends to  have  made  this  observation. 

Any  and  every  feeling,  whatever  name  may  be 
given  to  it,  is  incontrovertible  in  so  far  as  the  feeling 
itself,  and  no  more,  is  affirmed.  There  is  no  con- 
tradicting one  who  merely  affirms  that  he  is  joyful, 
or  that  he  is  sad ;  nor  one  who  declares  that  he  feels 
sixteen  years  old,  provided  he  does  not  claim,  in 
addition,  that  he  has  lived  only  that  number  of  years. 
But  if  he  passes  from  the  feeling  of  youthfulness 
to  the  affirmation  that  he  is  sixteen  years  old,  then 
his  claim  is  open  to  verification.  He  may  be  asked 
to  produce  his  reasons,  not  for  the  feeling,  but  for 
his  interpretation  of  it.  The  theologians  who  write 
as  our  author  does,  do  not  seem  to  know  that  no 
particular  feeling  can  of  itself  signify  personal  im- 
mortality. 

The  "  inner  experience  "  which,  these  theologians 
say,  should  and  does  convince  of  immortality  is  no 
other  than  a  sense  of  the  worth  of  human  life  and 
the  realization  that  this  life  can  be  rationally  and 
morally  satisfactory  only  if  the  good,  or  the  su- 
premely good  endures.  Professor  Bacon's  argument 
is,  therefore,  at  bottom,  no  more  than  a  disguised 
statement  of  the  moral  argument. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE     DEMONSTRATION     OF     MODERN     IM- 
MORTALITY BY  DIRECT  SENSORY  EVI- 
DENCE AND  SCIENTIFIC  INDUCTION 

The  primary  belief  in  continuation  possessed  the 
incontrovertible  validity  belonging  to  facts  of 
sensory  experience.  Because  of  the  nature  of  its 
origin,  the  modern  belief  in  fulfillment  after  death 
lacks  this  certainty,  and  the  protracted  efforts 
that  have  been  made  to  gain  for  it  metaphysical 
certitude  have  secured  at  best  no  more  than  a  hope 
of  its  reality.  Under  these  circumstances,  it  would 
have  been  strange  indeed  if  in  the  present  scientific 
age  systematic  efforts  had  not  been  made  to  lift 
the  modern  belief  above  the  parlous  state  in  which 
it  was  left  by  metaphysics.  If  a  direct  sensory 
demonstration  or  an  inductive  scientific  proof  could 
be  secured,  the  modern  belief  would  have  gained  the 
assurance  it  now  lacks. 

A  recent  widespread  effort  to  provide  such  proof 
began  a  few  decades  ago  and  continues  unabated  to 
this  day.  I  allude  to  the  kind  of  researches  seen 
at  their  best  in  the  work  of  the  "  Society  'for 
Psychical  Research."  This  may  be  regarded  as  the 
only  new  development  in  the  history  of  the  belief 
since  the  production  of  the  metaphysical  proofs. 

The  literature  on  psychical  research  has  become 
vast  and  intricate  and  a  critical  discussion  of  it 

156 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  157 

would  be  so  lengthy,  and  to  most  people  so  tedious, 
that  I  shall  refer  the  reader  to  the  original  reports  ' 
and  content  myself  with  brief  statements  on  three 
topics:  the  methods  of  research,  the  results  so  far 
secured,  and  the  nature  of  the  future  life  which  the 
alleged  evidence  would  disclose.  For  the  sake  of 
convenience  I  shall  use  ''  spirit "  and  "  spirit  com- 
munication "  instead  of  "  alleged  spirit "  and  "  al- 
leged communication." 

I.  PHYSICAL  MANIFESTATIONS 
Spirit  manifestations  may  be  divided  for  con- 
venience into  two  classes:  the  physical  manifesta- 
tions, such  as  movement  of  objects,  production  of 
noises  or  music,  materialization  of  spirits,  and  the 
like;  and  the  psychical  manifestations,  namely  the 
production  of  ideas,  feelings,  desires,  or  purposes, 
either  in  a  "  medium "  used  as  a  transmitter,  or 
directly  in  the  person  with  whom  the  spirit  wishes 
to  communicate. 

The  outcome  of  observations  under  partial  scien- 
tific control  that  have  been  permitted  by  some  me- 
diums is  now  generally  regarded  as  totally  discredit- 
ing the  spiritistic  origin  of  the  physical  manifesta- 
tions; and  also,  though  less  conclusively,  as  dis- 
crediting any  interpretation  involving  other  than 
ordinary  physical  powers.  The  case  against  these 
alleged  manifestations  was  made  only  the  more  con- 
vincing by  the  last  great  claimant  to  supernormal 
power,  Eusapia  Palladino.    This  noted  medium  sub- 


^  Proceedings    of    the    Society    for    Psychical    Research. 
(Twenty-seven  volumes  have  already  been  issued.) 


158  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

mitted  to  several  investigations  usually,  however, 
under  her  own  conditions  or  her  conditions  only 
slightly  altered.  The  most  thorough  of  these  in- 
vestigations was  carried  out  between  1905  and  1907 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Institut  General  Psycho- 
logique.'  In  this  investigation  a  number  of  well- 
known  scientists  participated,  notably  the  physicists 
Curie  and  d'Arsonval. 

These  experiments  discovered  not  only  a  number 
of  tricks,  but  also  Palladino's  rooted  aversion  to 
really  scientific  control  and  the  impotency  to  which 
she  is  reduced  when  she  submits  to  conditions  satis- 
factory to  the  investigators.  One  of  the  interesting 
discoveries  of  this  committee  was  made  by  means  of 
a  device  recording,  unknown  to  the  medium,  the 
weight  of  the  chair  in  which  she  sat  during  the  table- 
levitation  performances.  It  was  found  that  when- 
ever the  two  feet  of  the  table  on  her  side,  or  three, 
or  all  four  feet  of  the  table  were  lifted,  there  was 
an  increase  in  her  weight,  corresponding  to  the 
weight  of  the  table.  And  whenever  the  two  feet 
opposite  the  end  at  which  Eusapia  was  seated  were 
lifted,  the  apparatus  recorded  a  decrease  in  her 
weight,  i.  e.,  just  what  would  be  expected  on  the 
supposition  that  she  pressed  upon  the  near  end  of 
the  table  in  order  to  cause  the  raising  of  the  op- 
posite end. 

Her  success  in  deflecting  "  without  contact  *'  a 
delicate  balance  gave  way  to  complete  failure  when 


^  Dr.  Jules  Courtier:  Rapport  sur  les  Seances  d' Eusapia 
Palladino.  Published  by  the  Institute  General  Psychologique; 
Paris;  Vol.  VIII,  1908.    Pages  415-518. 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  159 

it  was  protected  in  various  ways  devised  for  the  pur- 
pose. It  was,  moreover,  discovered  that  a  long  hair 
and  a  pin  were  among  the  apparatus  apparently  re- 
quired for  her  demonstrations. 

That  cheating  is  a  conspicuous  feature  of  her 
performances  is  recognized  not  only  by  the  French 
Committee,  but  by  all  those  who  have  had  her  under 
observation.  The  French  Report  admits,  neverthe- 
less, the  possibility  of  the  possession  by  Palladino 
of  an  unknown  power.  It  is  argued  that  deception 
in  a  medium  does  not  preclude  the  possession  of 
supernormal  power.  One  may  in  principle  agree 
with  William  James  that  it  is  "  dramatically  impos- 
sible that  the  swindling  should  not  have  accreted 
around  some  originally  genuine  nucleus,"  '  provided 
it  be  admitted  that  fraudulent  performances  of  one 
kind  may  have  accreted  around  genuine  phenomena 
of  another  kind.  The  wonders  of  the  early  mes- 
merizers  may,  for  instance,  have  been  the  starting 
point  for  the  production  of  other,  never  genuinely 
produced  performances ;  or,  the  first,  the  honest  per- 
formance may  have  been  a  trance,  a  vision,  a  cure 
which  established  a  reputation  for  wonder-working. 
May  we  not  admit  that  in  an  effort  to  maintain  that 
reputation,  persons  have  tried  to  cause  objects  to 
move  without  touching  them?  That  is  a  power  at- 
tributed fairly  commonly  to  magic.  And,  failing 
in  this,  may  not  some  of  these  would-be  magicians 
prefer  deception  to  renunciation  ?    A  full  knowledge 


'"Confidences    of    a    Psychical    Researcher";    American 
Magazine;  October,  1909. 


160  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

of  the  beginning  of  the  career  of  mediums  would 
solve  this  problem. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  deception  in  a  medium 
does  not  of  itself  preclude  the  possession  of  super- 
normal power.  Yet,  there  may  be  realized  a  combi- 
nation of  frequency  of  deception,  kinds  of  perform- 
ance, and  nature  of  the  required  conditions  which 
would  decrease  to  the  vanishing  point  the  prob- 
ability of  the  presence  in  the  medium  of  a  super- 
normal force.  That  combination  is  ralized,  I  think, 
in  the  case  of  Palladino.  When  before  the  French 
investigators  she  operated  under  the  following  con- 
ditions : — 

The  room  in  which  the  experiments  were  made 
was  darkened,  and,  at  times,  quite  dark.  The 
darker  the  room,  we  are  told,  the  more  remarkable 
the  performance.  The  .control  of  the  medium's 
hands  was  theoretically  secured  by  two  persons,  each 
holding  one  of  hers;  but  in  practice  she  insisted, 
when  she  chose,  upon  the  right  to  place  her  hands 
on  those  of  the  controllers;  end  even,  at  times,  to 
give  them  gentle  taps  instead  of  remaining  in  con- 
tact with  them.  Corresponding  conditions  existed 
as  to  the  control  of  her  feet.  During  the  sittings 
her  hands  were  ever  in  motion,  carrying  with  them 
those  of  the  controllers.  She  refused  to  have  pieces 
of  tape  seven  centimeters  long  sewed  between  her 
sleeves  and  those  of  the  controllers.  She  refused  to 
allow  observers  to  be  stationed  in  the  room  elsewhere 
than  around  the  table.  After  the  first  instantaneous 
photograph  had  been  taken  by  flashlight,  she  refused 
to  permit  any  to  be  taken  without  warning,  on  the 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  161 

ground  that  it  caused  her  a  painful  shock.  She  did 
not  propose  to  wear  dark  glasses,  but  expressed  her 
willingness  to  give  the  signal  herself,  "  fuoco  "  / 

Together  with  these  facts  must  be  weighed  two 
important  considerations :  the  performances  in  which 
she  was  not  caught  at  tricks  are  of  the  same  sort 
as  those  in  which  she  was ;  and  every  one  of  the  con- 
ditions she  maintained  against  the  wish  of  the  in- 
vestigators favors  deception.  Why  must  there  be 
a  cabinet  closed  in  front  by  a  curtain?  Why  must 
the  stand,  the  clay,  and  other  objects  be  within  reach 
of  her  hands  or  feet?  Why  the  poor  illumination? 
Why  was  she  not  willing  to  suffer  the  annoyance 
of  an  unexpected  flash  of  light  and  of  a  safe  control 
of  her  hands  and  feet  at  least  during  certain  sittings 
or  parts  of  sittings,  when  the  alleged  power  was 
with  her?  Were  she  occasionally  honest,  she  might, 
it  seems,  occasionally  dispense  with  some  or  all  of 
these  suspicious  circumstances. 

That  certain  conditions  must  be  observed  in  order 
to  make  possible  the  manifestation  of  any  power  is 
not  disputed.  But  why  is  it  that  the  required  con- 
ditions are  here  precisely  those  that  would  g\\Q  the 
medium  a  chance  of  cheating — of,  for  instance,  sur- 
reptitiously freeing  her  hands  and  feet,  were  she  to 
need  their  assistance.  It  is  either  because  every  one 
of  her  productions  is  a  trick,  or  because  she  is  so 
uncertain  of  the  availability  of  her  supernormal 
power  or  so  frequently  averse  to  using  it  that  she 
is  prepared  in  every  instance  to  work  by  prestidigi- 
tation, should  she  prefer  or  find  it  necessary  to  do 


162  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

so.  But,  as  she  has,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  insisted 
from  the  beginning  upon  these  conditions,  and  as 
other  mediums  have  always  done  likewise,  there  is 
the  strongest  presumption  against  the  second  sup- 
position. 

We  need  not  be  deterred  from  a  negative  conclu- 
sion by  the  sitters'  declaration  that  they  cannot 
possibly  understand  how,  in  light  sufficient  for  ob- 
servation and  with  her  hands  and  feet  under  control, 
Palladino  could  by  normal  means  accomplish  certain 
of  the  things  they  have  seen  her  do.  Photography 
shows  how  unable  they  were  to  realize  what  was 
going  on.  In  the  only  photograph  taken  without 
warning,  Eusapia  is  actually  lifting  the  table  with 
her  hands,  while  the  controllers  have  theirs  upon 
hers;  and  yet  they  were  not  aware  of  her  action. 
In  another  photograph,  the  stand  they  thought  they 
had  seen  floating  freely  in  the  air  appears  supported 
on  the  medium's  neck  and  head.  Their  judgment  as 
to  the  sufficiency  of  light  and  the  occupation  of  the 
medium's  hands  while  under  control  can  evidently 
not  be  relied  upon. 

What  is  true  of  Palladino  is  true  in  substance  of 
all  mediums  so  far  as  the  production  of  physical 
phenomena  is  concerned.  The  physical  manifesta- 
tions with  which  mediums  have  entertained  and 
puzzled  the  world  do  not  point  to  the  existence  of 
spirits,  or  even  in  my  opinion  to  supernormal  powers 
of  any  sort.* 


*  Palladino's  public  career  came  to  an  end  in  New  York 
in  1910,  when,  after  certain  seances  at  the  house  of  Prof. 
Herbert  Lord  of  Columbia   University,  her  clever  practices 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  163 

II.     PSYCHICAL  MANIFESTATIONS 
The  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  the  mass  of 
evidence  accumulated   during  the  last  twenty-five 
years  as  to  the  origin  of  the  psychical  manifesta- 
tions, the  chief  of  which  are  the  "  messages  "  pur- 
porting to  come  from  disincarnate  spirits,  is  much 
less  definite  than  in  the  case  of  the  physical  mani- 
festations.    The  most  famous  of  the  living  spirit- 
mediums  is  doubtless  Mrs.  Piper  of  Boston.     No 
other  medium  has  been  so  carefully  and  so  long 
studied  by  so  many  able  investigators,  and  none  has 
contributed  so  much  that  seems  beyond  the  inge- 
nuity  of   any   one  to   explain.     Accounts   of  her 
seances  fill  many  thousand  pages  of  the  Proceedings, 
The  stage-setting  of  these  seances  is  somewhat  com- 
plicated.    The  medium  passes  into  a   trance  and 
speaks  or  writes  automatically,  messages  purport- 
ing to  come  from  some  spirit;  but  this  communi- 
cating spirit  is  introduced  and  superintended  by  a 
familiar  spirit  called  the  ''  control."     Mrs.  Piper's 
reputation  for  honesty  has  never  been  shaken. 

Instead  of  entering  into  a  critical  analysis  of 
Mrs.  Piper's  utterances,'  I  shall  devote  the  space 
at  my  disposal  to  the  more  decisive  experiments  in 
cross-correspondences,  the  latest  and  most  promis- 

were  heartlessly  exposed.  Readers  who  wish  to  know  wiiat 
can  be  seen  at.Palladino's  seances  by  observers  concealed  m 
♦  a  bureau  provided  with  a  peephole,  or  flat  on  the  floor  under 
the  table,  should  read  Collier's  Weekly,  May  14,  1910;  and  the 
Neiv  York  Times,  May  12,  and  following  numbers. 

'  See  the  Proceedings  of  the  English  and  of  the  American 
S.  P.  R.  Several  years  ago  I  examined  critically  in  "  Em- 
pirical Data  on  Immortality,"  International  Journal  of  Eth- 
ics, 1903,  XIV,  pages  90-105,  a  voluminous  report  of  Dr. 
Hyslop  upon  a  number  of  sittings  given  him  by  Mrs.  Piper. 


164  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

ing  method  for  arriving  at  a  settlement  of  the  ques- 
tion of  survival  after  death.  When  a  medium  makes 
a  statement  descriptive  of  some  past  event,  and  it  is 
left  to  the  sitter  to  prove  that  neither  he  nor  the 
medium,  nor  perhaps  any  one  living,  ever  had  knowl- 
edge of  that  event,  the  task  is,  to  say  the  least,  very 
difficult;  in  fact  it  is  usually  quite  impossible  of 
performance,  for  memory  is  not  to  be  relied  upon. 
Cross-correspondence  is  unfortunately  not  free  from 
this  difficulty.  The  theory  is  that  if  several  persons 
receive  messages  which  when  taken  singly  have  no 
meaning,  but  make  sense  when  put  together,  we 
should  have  to  admit — on  the  supposition  that 
fraud  is  excluded — that  those  messages  have  been 
suggested  to  the  percipients  by  some  mind.  If, 
moreover,  the  thing  communicated  does  not  seem  to 
have  been  possibly  within  the  knowledge  of  any  one 
of  the  percipients ;  and  if  it  is  discovered  that  some 
dead  person  possessed  that  knowledge  when  on 
earth;  and,  finally,  if  that  person  is  mentioned  by 
name  as  the  communicator  in  one  or  several  of  the 
unintelligible  parts  of  the  message,  then,  at  least  a 
strong  presumption  in  favor  of  the  existence  of  that 
spirit  would  have  been  produced. 

The  experiments  in  cross-correspondence  fProc. 
vols.  XX-XXVII)  have  been  conducted  chiefly 
through  three  English  ladies,  one  of  them  residing 
in  India,  and  Mrs.  Piper.  Chance  coincidence  is 
absolutely  insufficient  to  account  for  the  results 
secured,  and  collusion  is  rejected  by  all  those  who 
know  something  of  these  persons  and  of  the  con- 
ditions of  the  tests.    There  is  apparently  no  escape 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  165 

from  the  conclusion  reached  by  that  acute  critic  and 
tenacious  skeptic,  Frank  Podmore :     ''  The  automa- 
tists  unquestionably  show  that  they  possess  informa- 
tion which  would  not  have  reached  their  conscious- 
ness by  normal  means."  '    Whether  the  explanation 
of  these  mysterious  cross-correspondences  will  be 
found  in  telepathy  acting  at  any  distance,  taken 
together  with  the  well-known  fact  of  the  reappear- 
ance in  certain  mental  states   (in  trance-conscious- 
ness, for  instance)   of  things  once  known  but  long 
forgotten,  even  of  things  of  which  we  never  had 
more  than  an  imperfect  knowledge  and  should  at 
no  time  have  been  able  to  reproduce  correctly,  re- 
mains for  future  investigations  to  disclose.    As  long 
as  we  can  affirm  with  Podmore  that  *'  the  trance  per- 
sonalities have  never  told  us  anything  which  was 
not  probably  within  the  knowledge  of  some  living 
person,"  telepathy  will  appear  the  more  plausible 
and  the  less   revolutionary  hypothesis.     But  who 
will  venture  to  formulate  the  test  which  will  mark 
particular  messages   as  not  within  the  *'  possibly 
known  "  to  some  one  living  anywhere  on  the  surface 
of  the  globe? 

The  telepathic  hypothesis  of  spirit-message  re- 
ceives support  from  the  nature  of  the  com- 
munications made  by  the  alleged  spirits  regarding 
their  state  and  the  circumstances  of  their  exist- 
ence. They  have  been  fairly  loquacious;  yet  not 
any  of  them,  not  even  those  from  whom  much  could 
have  been  expected,  have     revealed     anything     at 

•  The  New  Spiritualism;  page  302.  For  a  resume  of  the 
most  striking  cross-correspondence,  see  pages  237-276. 


166  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

all  More  significant  still  than  the  insignificance  of 
the  remarks  of  these  alleged  spirits  concerning  the 
other  life,  is  their  pertinacious  effort  to  avoid 
answering  the  many  and  pointed  questions  addressed 
to  them  on  that  subject.  From  Richard  Hodgson, 
the  late  secretary  of  the  Society,  nothing  enlighten- 
ing has  been  learned,  despite  his  haste  in  announc- 
ing his  existence.  For  several  years  after  his  death, 
Mrs.  Piper  scarcely  held  a  sitting  without  some 
manifestation  of  what  professed  to  be  Hodgson's 
spirit.  He  talked  abundantly  of  trifling  incidents, 
presumably  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  his  iden- 
tity; but  when  questioned  concerning  the  cir- 
cumstances of  his  existence,  he  either  driveled  or  ex- 
cused himself  clumsily  and  departed.  Frederick 
Myers  and  Wm.  James  have  been  equally  disappoint- 
ing. 

It  has  been  urged  that  the  spirits  may  find  it 
difficult  to  work  with  the  muscular  mechanism  of 
the  medium;  a  disincarnate  soul  may  be  inefficient 
in  the  matter  of  bodily  control.  He  may  also  be 
for  a  time  not  fully  conscious  and  muddled.  The 
fact  is,  however,  that  they  do  communicate  a  great 
many  things ;  it  takes  volumes  to  record  their  utter- 
ances! The  difficulties  are  apparently  of  such  a 
peculiar  nature  that  nothing  concerning  the  other 
life,  and  only  things  that  have  taken  place  on  this 
earth,  transpire.  None  of  the  hypotheses  offered 
accounts  for  this  puzzling  aspect  of  the  communica- 
tions, not  even  the  latest  suggestion  which  would 
shift  the  blame  from  the  spirit  to  the  medium. 
Here  we  are  asked  to  admit  that  because  of  the 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  167 

peculiar  condition  of  spirit-existence,  the  spirit's 
mental  content  is  transmitted  whole  to  the  medium ; 
in  a  lump,  as  it  were;  instead  of  coming  out  in  the 
organized  and  selected  form  which  is  insured  by  nor- 
mal speech/  Were  it  so,  it  would  be  no  wonder 
should  the  medium  get  confused,  contradict  himself, 
and  speak  irrelevantly.  But  why,  when  he  knows 
that  the  sitter  seeks  information  on  things  above, 
does  the  medium  not  succeed  once  in  a  while  in  choos- 
ing, in  the  total  consciousness  of  the  spirit,  some- 
thing which  would  gratify  the  sitter's  curiosity; 
why  are  the  things  picked  out  always  meaningless, 
ridiculous  or  trifling?  To  this  pertinent  question 
no  satisfactory  answer  has  ever  been  given.  The 
limitation  of  the  knowledge  of  the  alleged  spirits  to 
earthly  facts  points  to  an  earthly  origin  of  the 
medium's  information. 

It  is  sometimes  supposed  that  all  the  prominent 
researchers  have  come  to  accept  spirit  survival. 
This  is  far  from  true.  Henry  Sidgwick  one  of  the 
most  earnest  and  influential  of  the  founders  of  the 
S.  P.  R.,  ready  enough  though  he  was  to  believe,  died, 
according  to  the  report  of  his  friend,  Wm.  James, 
"  in  the  same  identical  state  of  doubt  and  of  balance 
in  which  he  started."  '  And  Wm.  James  himself, 
who  is  often  mentioned  as  an  out  and  out  believer 
in  spiritism,  wrote  not  long  before  his  death,  "  For 
25  years  I  have  been  in  touch  with  the  literature  of 
Psychical  Research,  and  I  have  been  acquainted  with 


^  James  Hyslop:   Psychical  Research  and  Survival;   1913 
Page  126.     See  also  pages  129,  131. 
'  American  Magazine,  October,  1909. 


168  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

numerous  researchers.  .  ,  .  Yet  I  am  theoretically 
no  further  than  I  was  at  the  beginning."  '  He 
maintained  consistently  throughout  his  life  an  at- 
titude of  suspended  judgment  regarding  the 
"  proofs  "  of  spirit  existence.  Both  his  open  mind- 
edness  and  his  negative  attitude  as  to  the  results, 
appear  clearly  in  his  comments  on  certain  sittings 
Mrs.  Piper  gave  him,  in  which  his  lately  deceased 
friend  Richard  Hodgson  was  supposed  to  have  com- 
municated, "  I  therefore  repeat  that  if  ever  our 
growing  familiarity  with  these  phenomena  should 
tend  more  and  more  to  corroborate  the  hypothesis 
that  *  spirits '  play  some  part  in  their  production, 
I  shall  be  quite  ready  to  undeafen  my  ears,  and  to 
revoke  the  negative  conclusions  of  this  limited  re- 
port.'* ^" 


®  Log.  cit. 

''Proc;  Vol.  XXIII;  1909;  page  29. 

It  may  be  added  that  James  did  not  desire  the  demonstra- 
tion of  the  spiritistic  hypothesis.  He  never  accepted  the 
"  soul "  theory,  in  part  for  lack  of  evidence  and  in  part  be- 
cause he  could  not  make  any  use  of  the  notion  of  a  simple, 
permanent  essence.  There  was  no  room  in  his  philosophy 
for  the  survival  after  death  of  individual  souls.  These  two 
negations  —  no  soul  and  the  loss  of  personal  identity  after 
death  —  were  early  established  in  the  mind  of  the  American 
philosopher.  And  yet,  he  was  far  from  believing  that  death 
ends  all.  Almost  as  early  as  his  denial  of  a  soul,  one  finds 
him  surmising,  if  not  affirming,  that  although  man  does  not 
preserve  his  identity  beyond  death,  he  becomes  at  death  in 
some  way  an  immortal  partaker  in  a  superhuman  conscious- 
ness. The  idea  of  a  "  sea  of  consciousness  "  in  which  we  are 
somehow  plunged,  was  one  of  James's  fundamental  beliefs, 
or  rather,  to  use  his  own  term,  "  overbeliefs." 

The  best  history  of  mediumship  is  Frank  Podmore's  Mod- 
ern Spiritualism:  A  History  and  a  Criticism,  2  vols.;  Lon- 
don; Methuen  &  Co.  Brought  up  to  date  in  The  Newer 
Spiritualism;  New  York;  Henry  Holt  &  Company;  1911. 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  169 

Whether  the  results  of  the  S.  P.  R.  are  regarded 
as  proving  survival  or  not,  it  must  be  admit- 
ted that  no  amount  of  ingenuity  in  explanation 
and  no  optimism  can  hide  the  unattractiveness  of 
the  glimpses  that  may  have  been  caught  of  the  other 
life ;  there  is  no  hint  in  these  glimpses  of  any  glori- 
fication; nor,  for  that  matter,  of  any  retribution. 
That  other  world  would  come  much  closer  to  a  real- 
ization of  the  primary  than  of  the  modem  concep- 
tion of  continuation.  The  disincarnate  souls  ap- 
pear on  the  whole  as  enfeebled  and  inefficient  replica 
of  earthly  beings.  This  is  not  the  kind  of  con- 
tinuation which  the  modern  world  desires ;  it  lacks 
the  essential  features  of  the  Christian  conception  of 
immortality. 

III.     THE    RESURRECTION    OF    CHRIST. 

The  numerous  alleged  apparitions  of  persons  once 
on  earth  can  have  demonstrative  value  only  if  the 
hypothesis  of  hallucination  is  excluded,  and  if,  be- 
sides, sufficient  proof  is  given  of  the  identity  of  the 
ghost.    Should  we  admit  that  these  conditions  have 
been  realized  in  the  case  of  Christ,  the  immortality 
of  man  would  not  thereby  have  been  established, 
since,   according   to   orthodox   Christianity,    Christ 
was  human  only  by  his  mother.     The  rising  from 
the  dead  of  a  divine  being  could  not  prove  that  mere 
man  will  conquer  death.     In  good  logic,  only  dis- 
believers in  the  supernatural  birth,  who  nevertheless 
accept  the  historical  records  of  Christ's  resurrection 


170  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

as  convincing,  may  rely  upon  him  as  a  witness  of 
the  possibility  of  their  own  immortality/' 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  Christians  who  have  embraced 
the  unitarian  heresy,  and  such  Christians  are  now 
found  in  most  of  our  churches,  usually  profess  doubt 
as  to  the  sufficiency  of  the  records.  And  contem- 
porary theologians  are  wont  to  speak  of  Christ's  re- 
surrection as  warranting  a  hope  of  immortality  and 
no  more.  Professor  Wm.  A.  Brown  of  Union  Theo- 
logical Seminary  (New  York)  concludes  his  con- 
sideration of  immortality  by  this  affirmation,  "  The 
most  that  we  can  hope  to  prove  by  testimony  is  that 
something  happened  in  the  past."  '' 

The  deeper  influence  of  Christ  upon  the  belief 
in  immortality  is  after  all  not  due  to  his  alleged 
resurrection  but  to  his  life  and  to  his  own  belief  in 
human  immortality.  When  he  convinces  men  of  im- 
mortality, it  is  not  so  much  because  they  believe  he 
rose  from  the  dead,  as  because  he  is  thought  to  have 
taught  resurrection  and  because  he  lived,  so  at 
least  it  seems  to  them,  as  an  immortal  being  would 
live.  The  reported  fact  of  the  resurrection  is  it- 
self, one  may  hold,  a  consequence  of  the  intensity  to 
which  the  motives  for  the  belief  in  fulfillment  after 
death  had  been  stimulated  by  the  commanding  per- 
sonality of  the  founder  of  Christianity.  For  the 
rest,  the  influence  of  the  belief  in  the  resurrection  is 
probably  enormously  exaggerated.    It  is  not  Christ 

''  But,  as  one  of  my  reviewers  remarks,  "the  resurrection 
of  Christ  establishes  beyond  doubt  that  view  of  the  universe 
of  which  belief  in  God  and  immortality  is  an  integral  part." 

''  The  Christian  Hope:  A  Study  of  the  Doctrine  of  Im- 
mortality; Scribner;  1912.     Page  179. 


THE  MODERN  BELIEF  171 

who  brought  into  the  world  the  hope  of  immortality ; 
for  not  only  the  hope,  but  the  belief  had  at  the  be- 
ginning of  our  era  already  become  the  possession 
of  many  in  Palestine  as  well  as  elsewhere. 

The  outcome  of  the  last  two  chapters  is  that  the 
metaphysical  proofs  of  immortality  are  admittedly 
inadequate;  that  the  ground  of  that  belief  when  it 
is  based  on  **  inner  experience  "  is  really  the  naive 
conviction  that  human  life  at  its  best  is  too  precious 
to  end  with  death,  and  that  survival  is  demanded 
for  the  gratification  of  ideal  desires ;  and  finally  that 
the  effort  to  prove  modern  immortality  by  the 
methods  of  science  has  so  far  remained  inconclusive. 


PART  II 

STATISTICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  BELIEF  IN  A 
PERSONAL  GOD  AND  IN  PERSONAL  IM- 
MORTALITY IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

INTRODUCTION 

In  the  present  status  of  religion  and  of  phi- 
losophy, there  is  only  one  fundamentally  significant 
classification  of  the  various  conceptions  of  God. 
On  the  one  side  must  be  placed  the  conceptions  that 
are  consistent  with  the  means  of  worship  common 
to  all  religions,  original  Buddhism  and  Comtism 
excepted;  on  the  other,  those  that  are  not.  Every 
book  of  worship  at  present  in  use  implies  a  Being  in 
direct  affective  and  intellectual  relation  with  his 
worshipers;  a  Being,  therefore,  endowed  with  will, 
feeling,  and  intelligence.  The  surrender  of  that 
conception  would  mean  either  the  disappearance  or 
the  radical  transformation  of  practically  all  the  re- 
ligions known  to  history. 

Who  would  recognize  the  Christian  religion,  either 
Protestant  or  Roman  Catholic,  were  all  traces  of 
direct  communication  with  the  Divinity  now  indi- 
cated in  its  liturgies  to  be  removed  ?  The  Christian 
God  and  the  unknowable  First  Cause  of  Spencer,  or 
the    impassible    Absolute    of    most    contemporary 

172 


THE  STATISTICS  173 

philosophers,  are  essentially  different  conceptions 
which  can  be  used  interchangeably  neither  in  religion 
nor  in  philosophy.' 

I  have  called  those  beings  who  hold  the  direct 
personal  relations  with  man  characteristic  of  the 
worship  of  the  historical  religions,  "  personal  gods." 
It  is  with  the  gods  of  that  description  only  that  we 
are  concerned  in  this  volume. 

The  expression  "  personal  immortality "  is 
usually  understood  to  mean  the  continuation  after 
death  of  the  conscious  individual  and  implies  the 
continuation  of  the  sense  of  one's  identity.  Any 
conception  which  does  not  include  this  sense  of  iden- 
tity is  not  the  one  intended  here.' 

The  beliefs  in  a  personal  God  and  in  a  personal 
immortality  are  regarded  as  cardinal  tenets  of 
Christianity,  and,  many  would  hold,  of  every  pos- 
sible religion.  Yet,  in  the  absence  of  any  reliable 
knowledge,  the  widest  divergence  of  opinion  exists 
regarding  their  prevalence  in  Christian  countries. 
Pulpit  orators  assert,  for  instance,  that  scientists 
and  philosophers,  with  few  exceptions,  share  with 
them  the  ''  fundamentals  "  of  the  Christian  faith. 
On  the  other  hand,  ''  free  thinkers  "  declare  that  no 
man  of  science  can  accept  the  Christian  beliefs ;  and 
that,  as  to  the  clergy,  they  are  mostly  dissemblers. 
One  of  my  correspondents,  a  chemist,  adds  to  a 
declaration  of  belief  in  God  and  immortality,  *'  You 

'  See  the  preface  of  this  book  for  some  remarks  concerning 
the  meanings  of  the  term  "  God." 

*  For  the  sake  of  brevity,  I  shall  in  the  sequel  omit  usually 
the  adjective  "  personal,"  both  with  reference  to  God  and  to 
immortality. 


174  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

will  find  that  90  per  cent,  of  the  chemists  of  this 
country  believe  as  I  do."  But  another  chemist,  a 
disbeliever,  informs  me  that  no  more  than  40  per 
cent,  of  his  brother  chemists  accept  these  two  be- 
liefs. If  men  of  science  accustomed  to  accuracy  in 
the  gathering  and  weighing  of  evidence,  diverge  to 
that  extent  when  speaking  of  their  own  profession, 
what  reliance  can  be  placed  upon  the  opinion  of  those 
who  lack  those  advantages  ? 

Although  valuable  statistics  on  almost  every  pos- 
sible subject  have  been  compiled,  none  really  signifi- 
cant have  been  attempted  regarding  the  beliefs  in 
which  we  are  interested.  Is  it  because  there  would 
be  no  gain  in  definite  knowledge?  Who  would  ven- 
ture that  assertion?  It  is  rather  the  old  desire  to 
protect  "  holy  things  "  from  too  close  scrutiny,  and 
also  the  more  or  less  unconscious  antagonism  of  those 
interested  in  the  maintenance  of  the  status  quo  in 
religion  that  have  stood  in  the  way  of  those  who 
might  have  been  disposed  to  face  the  diflficulties  of  a 
statistical  investigation  of  religious  convictions. 

It  has  seemed  to  me  desirable  on  general  theoretic- 
cal  ground,  as  well  as  for  reasons  of  practical  im- 
portance to  religion,  to  add  to  the  study  of  the  ori- 
gins of  the  belief  in  immortality  presented  in  this 
book,  and  to  the  study  of  the  origins  of  gods  set 
forth  in  a  preceding  volume,  a  statistical  and  psy- 
chological inquiry  into  the  present  status  of  these 
beliefs  among  us.  Studies  of  origin,  when  not 
brought  into  comparison  with  present  conditions, 
lose  much  of  their  import.  If  a  knowledge  of  the 
past  is  necessary  to  a  full  understanding  of  the 


THE  STATISTICS  175 

present,  acquaintance  with  the  living  present  is  no 
less  indispensable  to  a  complete  understanding  of 
the  past. 

Limited  in  its  scope  as  it  is,  the  present  research 
will,  nevertheless,  I  hope,  be  found  worthy  of  atten- 
tion not  only  by  the  students  of  religion,  but  also  by 
those  interested  in  the  possibilities  of  the  statistical 
method.     The  sociologist  speaks  freely  of  develop- 
ment and  of  progress,  but  he  has  measured  only 
material  changes.    He  may  state  with  sufficient  pre- 
cision changes  in  the  wealth  of  a  nation  and  in 
church  membership ;  but  he  cannot  express  definitely 
the  alterations  that  have  taken  place  in  the  con- 
ceptions and  convictions  of     men.     For     instance, 
there  exists  no  information  that  would  make  possi- 
ble a  reliable  statistical  comparison  of  the  religious 
ideas  and  beliefs  of  the  Europe  of  the  beginning  of 
the  last  century  with  those  of  the  present.     And 
yet,  changes  in  conceptions  and  convictions  are  more 
indicative  than  wealth  of  profound  social  transfor- 
mations.   Statistics  of  belief,  similarly  computed  at 
different  periods,  would  provide  a  measure  of  some 
of  the  changes  that  take  place  in  the  moral  life  of 
a  given  population.     The  influences  upon  religious 
beliefs  of  general  intellectual  ability  and  of  knowl- 
edge of  definite  kinds  could  also  be  ascertained,  did 
we  but  possess  statistics  established  separately  for 
groups  of  men  differing  in  these  respects.     Recent 
researches  have  shown  that  problems  seemingly  as 
difficult  can  be  solved  by  the  statistical  method.' 

~  » I  allude  to  the  work  of  James  McKeen  Cattell,  Karl  Pear- 
son, Edward  Thorndike,  Dr.  James  Woods,  and  others,  on 


176  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

To  religion  itself,  the  significance  of  an  exact 
knowledge  of  the  present  trend  of  fundamental  be- 
liefs could  not  easily  be  overstated.  In  order  to  ful- 
fill effectively  their  mission,  religious  teachers  must 
know  the  needs  of  men,  their  hopes,  beliefs,  and 
unbeliefs.  It  is,  furthermore,  essential  to  intellect- 
ual and  moral  progress  that  the  beliefs  that  come  into 
existence  should  have  free  play.  New  beliefs  must 
have  the  chance  of  proving  their  worth  in  open  con- 
test. But  a  fair  struggle  cannot  take  place  when 
people  are  dissuaded  from  seeking  knowledge,  or 
when  knowledge  is  hidden. 

A  few  years  ago  I  began,  at  first  rather  tenta- 
tively, an  attempt  to  determine  scientifically  the 
presence  in  particular  classes  of  persons,  of  the  be- 
liefs in  God  and  immortality.  In  the  earlier  inves- 
tigations, I  aimed  at  the  same  time  at  securing  in- 
formation as  intimate  as  possible  on  certain  aspects 
of  religious  life.  The  groups  chosen  for  study  were 
American  students,  scientists,  historians,  sociolo- 
gists, psychologists,  and  philosophers.  The  choice 
of  these  groups  was  determined  chiefly  by  the  fact 
that  these  men,  because  of  their  intelligence,  habits 
of  reflection,  and  knowledge,  may  be  regarded  as  in 
the  vanguard  of  progress;  their  opinions  represent 
probably  the  public  opinion  of  to-morrow.  I  was  also 
attractd  to  these  classes  by  the  possibility  they  af- 
forded of  correlating  belief  and  unbelief  with  the 
kind  of  knowledge,  possessed  by  the  believer  or  un- 
believer, and  with  the  possession  of  certain  traits 

heredity   and  on  the   conditions  productive   of   insanity,  oi 
genius,  of  high  intellectual  ability,  etc. 


THE  STATISTICS  177 

upon  which  depend  success  in  intellectual  and  other 
pursuits.  The  existence  of  authoritative  lists  of 
the  persons  belonging  to  these  several  groups  was 
also  a  circumstance  of  considerable  advantage  to  me. 
Before  presenting  the  results  secured,  I  should 
like  to  offer  some  critical  comments  on  the  kind  of 
statistical  inquiries  and  the  symposia  which  have  so 
far  taken  the  place  of  scientific  statistics. 

Critical  Remarks  upon  Recent  Symposia  and  Sta- 
tistical Investigations. — The  past  twenty  years  have 
seen  the  publication  of  many  symposia  and  statistical 
inquiries  on  God  and  immortality.*  Most  of  the  sym- 
posia are  mere  collections  of  edifying  testimonies 
possessing  no  statistical  value  whatsoever.  Near- 
ly all  of  them  produce  upon  the  average  reader 
the  impression  of  a  more  or  less  universal  accept- 
ance of  the  beliefs  in  behalf  of  which  they  speak. 
Publish  two  hundred  attestations  of  a  particular 
opinion  upon  any  question,  gathered  from  among  a 
population  of  one  million  persons,  and  the  great  ma- 
jority of  the  readers  will  not  be  able  to  resist  the  be- 
lief that  that  opinion  is  the  dominant  one  in  the  pop- 

*  Clara  Spalding  Ellis:  What's  Next?  Or  Shall  a  Man  Live 
Again?    Richard  G.  Badger;  Boston. 

Robert  J.  Thompson:  The  Proof  of  lAfe  After  Death;  A 
Twentieth  Century  Symposium:  Chicago,  1902. 

E.  D.  Adams:  This  Life  and  the  Next;  Impressions  and 
Thoughts  of  Notable  Men  and  Women  from  Plato  to  Ruskin: 
London;  1902. 

Samuel  J.  Barrows:  Science  and  Immortality;  The  Chris- 
tian Register  Symposium  Revised  and  Enlarged:  Boston; 
Geo.  H.  Ellis;  1887. 

Arthur  H.  Tabrum:  Religious  Beliefs  of  Scientists;  A 
Reply  to  a  Challenge  by  the  Rationalistic  Press  Association 
of  Great  Britain :  Hunter  and  Longhurst;  London;  1913 
(140  letters  from  English  scientists). 


178  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

ulation  to  which  these  two  hundred  persons  belong. 
Whereas  it  is  theoretically  possible  that  every  one  of 
the  999,800  silent  ones  hold  another  opinion. 

What,  for  instance,  is  the  significance  of  the  two 
hundred  testimonies  of  Christian  belief  gathered  by 
Clara  Spaulding  Ellis — the  largest  collection  of  the 
kind  with  which  I  am  acquainted?  Two  hundred 
voices  belonging  to  several  generations  of  people  of 
many  nationalties,  is  one  voice  in  a  million.  They 
belong,  it  is  true,  to  the  upper  classes.  Let  us  say, 
then,  that  they  represent  one  person  in  ten  thousand. 
What  are  the  opinions  of  the  nine  hundred  and 
ninety-nine  others? 

To  this  illusion  produced  by  symposia  is  usually 
added  deception — unintentional,  to  be  sure — of 
considerable  importance.  Because  of  insufficient 
definition  of  the  terms  upon  which  the  meaning  of 
the  testimonies  turns,  the  testifiers  are  understood 
to  support  opinions  which  frequently  are  not  theirs. 
A  recent  volume  entitled  Religious  Beliefs  of  Scien- 
tists provides  a  notable  illustration  of  this.  The 
book  is  an  attempt  "  to  ascertain  the  truth  or  falsity 
of  certain  assertions  made  by  Freethinkers  and  Ag- 
nostics, and  other  opponents  of  religion."  Here  are 
two  of  these  assertions :  "  It  is  extremely  doubtful 
whether  any  scientist  or  philosopher  really  holds  the 
doctrine  of  a  personal  God  " ;  "  Beyond  all  question 
the  higher  culture  of  America  is  rationalistic  from 
New  York  to  California.  "  These  are  reckless  as- 
sertions, but  our  present  concern  is  with  the  attempt 
of  the  author  of  the  book  mentioned  to  prove  them 
false,  and  not  with  their  reliability.    He  addressed 


THE  STATISTICS  179 

to  a  number  of  scientists,  nearly  all  British,  these 
two  questions: 

*'  Is  there  any  real  conflict  between  the  facts  of 
science  and  the  fundamentals  of  Christianity?" 
"  Has  it  been  your  experience  to  find  men  of  science 
irreligious  and  anti-Christian?" 

The  hundred  and  forty  scientists  who  answered 
are  nearly  all  men  past  middle  life,  many  are  very 
old,  and  quite  a  number  are  now  dead.  They  do  not 
therefore  represent  the  beliefs  of  the  rising,  but  of 
the  passing  generation  of  English  men  of  science. 

The  significance  of  this  inquiry  turns  upon  the 
meaning  attached  to  the  expression  ''  the  funda- 
mentals of  Christianity."  The  author  does  not  de- 
fine it;  he  does  not  even  ask  his  correspondents  to 
say  what  meaning  they  ascribe  to  that  expression. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  very  few  have  thought  it  neces- 
sary to  be  explicit.  When  they  affirm,  of  themselves 
or  of  others,  a  ''  deeply  religious  "  disposition,  one 
very  properly  wonders  whether  to  understand  acces- 
sibility to  awe  and  reverence,  which,  we  are  told  on 
every  hand  are  "  the  fundamental  religious  emo- 
tions " ;  or  whether  to  suppose  that,  in  addition  to 
these  emotions  shared  by  all  pagans  with  Christians, 
these  persons  hold  as  essential  to  salvation  a  belief 
in  the  Apostles'  and  Nicean  creeds. 

That  great  men  of  science  should  have  been  con- 
tent to  express  themselves  in  terms  so  absurdly  in- 
definite, would  be  incredible  if  one  did  not  know  that 
it  is  a  still  widespread  habit  not  to  think  about  re- 
ligion ;  and  that,  should  you  have  transgressed  this 
rule,  you  are  expected  to  hold  your  peace,  or  to  speak 


180  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

with  so  much  discretion  that  the  sway  of  the  tenets 
you  now  disbelieve  may  remain  unshaken. 

"  I  am  not  able  to  write  you  at  length,"  says  Lord 
Rayleigh,  *'  but  I  may  say  that  in  my  opinion  true 
Science  and  true  Religion  neither  are,  nor  could  be 
opposed."  Sir  William  Ramsey,  James  Ward,  and 
dozens  of  others,  write  just  as  unexplicitly.  The 
former  holds  that  *'  between  the  essential  truth  of 
Christianity  and  the  established  facts  of  Science 
there  is  no  real  antagonism  " ;  and  the  latter  is  of 
the  opinion  that  '*  there  is  not  and  never  can  be  any 
opposition  between  Science  and  Religion,  any  more 
than  there  can  be  any  between  Grammar  and  Re- 
ligion." But  neither  of  these  men  says  what  he 
means  by  "  religion,"  or  by  the  '*  essential  truth  of 
Christianity  " ;  and  yet  it  is  well  known  that  the  wid- 
est divergences  of  views  exist  regarding  the  truths 
esential  to  Christianity. 

The  distinguished  psychologist.  Professor  G.  F. 
Stout,  is  an  exception  to  the  rule.  He  knows  that  in 
answering  the  queries  of  Mr.  Tabrum,  the  meaning 
of  "  essentials  of  Christianity  "  must  be  explicitly 
stated  under  penalty  of  utter  confusion.  He  writes, 
"  I  should  also  agree  in  a  sense  that  there  is  no  an- 
tagonism between  the  established  facts  of  Science 
and  the  fundamental  teachings  of  Christianity,  but  I 
should  define  *  fundamental  teachings  of  Christian- 
ity '  as  those  elements  of  Christian  doctrine  which 
have  given  Christianity  its  influence  for  good  in  the 
world.  What  are  these?"  Stout  does  not  answer 
this  question,  but  his  published  writings,  warrant,  it 
appears  to  me,  the  statement  that  the  influence  he 


THE  STATISTICS  181 

acknowledges  is  essentially  independent  of  inspira- 
tion, revelation,  the  divinity  '  of  Christ,  and  even  of 
the  existence  of  a  benevolent  God  who  hears  and 
may  answer  man's  desire  and  supplications.  Nev- 
ertheless, the  majority  of  the  readers  of  that  book 
will  probably  put  Professor  Stout  on  Tabrum's  side 
of  the  controversy. 

This  book,  worthless  to  one  desiring  to  know  what 
English  scientists  really  believe,  is  useful  as  a  dem- 
onstration of  the  ambiguities  tolerated  in  religious 
matters,  not  only  by  the  muddle  headed  and  igno- 
rant, but  even  by  acute  minds  trained  in  the  accurate 
methods  of  science. 

With  one  exception,  the  researches  in  statistical 
form  upon  Immortality  and  other  religious  beliefs ' 
are  completely  meaningless  when  considered  as  sta- 
tistics. One  of  these  will  serve  the  purpose  of 
bringing  out  the  essential  conditions  to  be  fulfilled 
by  a  valid  statistical  inquiry  in  this  field. 

In  The  Religion  of  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-Six 
College  Students  are  to  be  found  tables  purporting  to 

'  I  use  these  words  in  their  historical,  doctrinal  meaning, 
not  in  the  sense  which  would  make  every  man  "  inspired  " 
and  "  divine." 

'  F.  C.  S.  Schiller :  "  The  answers  to  the  American  Branch's 
Questionnaire  regarding  Human  Sentiment  as  to  a  Future 
Life,"  Proc.  of  the  Soc.  for  Psychical  Research;  Part  49; 
1904.  Vol.  XVIII;  pages  416-450.  Reproduced  in  substance 
in  Humanism;  London;  Macmillan;  1903. 

Morse  and  Allen:  "The  Religion  of  One  Hundred  and 
Twenty-six  College  Students":  Journal  of  Religious  Psy- 
chology; 1913;  Vol.  VII;  pages  175-194.  ^  ,.^    „      ^  ^      . 

Simon  Spidle :  "  The  Belief  in  Immortality  :  Journal  of 
Religious  Psychology;  1912;  Vol.  V;  pages  5-51. 

Colin  A.  Scott :  "  Old  Age  and  Death  " :  Ameriacn  Journal 
of  Psychology;  1890;  Vol.  VIII. 


182  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

give  information  upon  the  number  of  students  of  a 
certain  college  who  pray,  attend  church,  believe  in 
immortality,  and  upon  other  related  topics.  It  ap- 
pears, in  particular,  that  one  hundred  students  pray 
and  that  twenty-six  do  not.  We  knew  already  that 
many  American  students  pray;  what  more  do  we 
know  now?  Nothing  more,  since  we  are  left  in  the 
dark  concerning  over  two-thirds  (274)  of  the  stu- 
dents who  received  the  questions  and  left  them  un- 
answered. Should  these  be  dominantly  non-praying 
persons,  the  religious  status  of  the  college  would  be 
altogether  different  from  what  the  incomplete  statis- 
tics offered  us  seem  to  indicate.  The  facts  gathered 
have  no  statistical  value  whatsoever.  In  order  to  be 
valid  for  a  whole  group,  a  statistical  investigation 
must  include  every  member  or  nearly  every  mem- 
ber of  it;  or,  if  a  part  of  the  group  is  used  as  re- 
presenting the  whole,  it  must  be  an  unselected  and 
not  too  small  fraction  of  the  whole. 

The  exception  to  which  I  referred  above,  is  the  inquiry 
of  the  American  Branch  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Re- 
search. It  is,  however,  concerned  not  with  the  number  of  be- 
lievers in  immortality,  but  with  other  problems,  mainly  the 
desire  for  it.  Even  that  investigation  is  not  free  from  ob- 
jection since  the  Questionnaire  was  "  quite  random  and  un- 
systematic," and  since  it  was  answered  by  much  less  than 
one-third  of  those  to  whom  it  was  addressed  directly  or 
through  its  publication  in  various  journals.  As  it  was  circu- 
lated chiefly  by  the  members  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Re- 
search and  in  spiritualistic  circle  (several  spiritualistic  jour- 
nals reprinted  the  questions),  the  reported  number  of  believ- 
ers is  obviously  unduly  large.  This,  Dr.  Schiller  himself  ad- 
mits. The  investigation  is  nevertheless  very  far  from  worth- 
less ;  the  methodological  defect  influences,  in  fact,  only  the  re- 
sults secured  by  the  first  question  (Would  you  prefer  to  live 
after  death  or  not?).  The  five  other  questions  are  addressed 
to  those  who  have  answered  the  first.  Now,  all,  or  nearly  all 
of  those  who  answered  the  first  answered  also  the  last  five 
questions.      Thus,    while    this    inquiry    contributes    nothing 


THE  STATISTICS  183 

definite  to  the  general  statistics  of  belief  in  immortality,  it 
provides  valid  statistical  information  upon  the  persons  who 
answered  its  first  question.  In  addition,  it  offers  a  rich  ma- 
terial on  the  psychology  of  belief. 

The  only  report  so  far  published  refers  to  questions  IV 
and  VI  Dr.  Schiller,  who  prepared  it,  is  not  to  be  held  re- 
sponsible for  the  conduct  of  the  investigation.  The  Ones- 
tio7inatre  (see  below)  was  issued  from  the  United  States  by 
Dr.  Richard  Hodgson,  at  the  time  Secretary  of  the  Society. 

INQUIRY  INTO  HUMAN  SENTIMENT  WITH  REGARD  TO  A 

FUTURE   LIFE 

I.     Would  you  prefer   (a)  to  live  after  "death"  or   (b) 
not?  ^   ^ 

II.     (a)  If  I.   (a),  do  you  desire  a  future  life  whatever 
the  conditions  might  be? 

(b)  If  not,  what  would  have  to  be  its  character  to 
make   the   prospect  seem  tolerable?     Would   you 
e.  g.,  be  content  with  a  life  more  or  less  like  vour 
present  life?  ^ 

(c)  Can  you  say  what  elements  in  life  (if  any)  are 
felt  by  you  to  call  for  its  perpetuity? 

III.  Can  you  state  why  you  feel  in  this  way,  as  regards 

questions  I.  and  II.?  s     ua 

IV.  Do  you  NOW  feel  the  question  of  a  future  life  to  be 

ot  urgent  importance  to  your  mental  comfort? 
V.     Have  your  feelings  on  questions  I.,  II.  and  IV.  under- 
gone change?     If  so,  when  and  in  what  ways? 
VI.      (a)    Would  you  like  to  know  for  certain  about  the 
tuture  life,  or   (6)  would  you  prefer  to  leave  it  a 
matter  of  faith? 


CHAPTER   VII 

INVESTIGATION   A:     THE   BELIEF   IN   GOD 
AMONG  AMERICAN  COLLEGE  STUDENTS 

If  fifty  years  ago  American  students  had  been 
asked  to  formulate  their  beliefs,  I  surmise  that  they 
would  have  answered,  with  some  uniformity  and  as- 
surance, in  the  terms  of  the  Catechisms  then  in  use. 
They  would  have  affirmed,  for  instance,  a  belief  in 
the  one  true  God,  Creator  of  heaven  and  earth,  in 
whom  dwell  three  persons  of  one  substance,  the 
Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost.  How  is  it  to- 
day? Official  creeds  and  articles  of  faith  have  re- 
mained substantially  unchanged,  and  the  clergy  are 
still  expected  to  teach  the  tenets  of  their  religion. 
What  is  the  faith  of  the  "  flower  of  the  rising  genera- 
tion"? 

A  few  years  ago  I  drew  up  four  questions,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  having  them  answered  by  all  the  students 
of  a  number  of  classes  belonging  to  non-technical  de- 
partments of  nine  colleges  of  high  rank,  and  by  two 
classes  (seventy-eight  answers)  of  a  normal  school. 
Nearly  one  thousand  answers  were  received,  97  per 
cent,  of  which  are  from  students  between  eighteen 
and  twenty  years  of  age.  This  number  of  answers 
is  small,  yet  their  significance  is  considerable.  With 
obvious  limitations,  they  provide  reliable  informa- 
tion as  to  the  state  of  mind  of  students  in  non-tech- 
nical college  departments  regarding  the  Christian 

184 


THE  STATISTICS  185 

conception  of  God.  These  data  have  special  value 
because  every  student  in  the  class  when  the  question- 
naire was  distributed,  answered/ 

'  The  Questionnaire  (see  below)  was  distributed  in  the 
class  room  by  the  instructor  in  psychology,  or,  less  frequent- 
ly, in  philosophy,  who  had  been  directed  to  read  to  the  class 
the  remarks  printed  as  introduction  to  the  questions,  and 
warned  against  discussing  them.  The  students  were  then 
allowed  the  remainder  of  the  class-period  to  formulate  their 
answers.  In  order  to  encourage  complete  freedom  of  expres- 
sion, signatures  were  not  requested. 

Nine  hundred  and  twenty-seven  answers  were  received 
(289  from  men  and  638  from  women)  from  nine  colleges  and 
78  from  one  normal  school.  The  tabulation  was  already 
completed  when  it  occurred  to  me  that  for  the  sake  of  greater 
homogeneity  the  answers  from  the  normal  school  had  better 
been  omitted.  They  include  a  larger  proportion  of  believers 
than  the  others.  I  secured  the  services  of  instructors  in  psy- 
chology and  philosophy  merely  because  of  my  acquaintance 
with  them,  and  of  their  interest  in  the  investigation  which 
should  not,  however,  be  thought  to  reflect  in  a  special  way 
their  teaching,  for  the  students  were  all  in  their  first  year 
of  psychology  or  philosophy,  and  nearly  all  of  them  in  their 
first  semester.  Any  one  familiar  with  what  is  taught  in  the 
first  semester  of  an  elementary  course  in  these  branches  will 
know  that  the  opinion  of  the  students  on  the  subject  of  this 
investigation  is  not  likely  to  have  been  directly  affected  by 
their  professors.  Their  ingenuousness  with  regard  to  any 
philosophical  knowledge  appears  to  me  demonstrated  by  the 
papers  themselves.  Should  further  doubts  remain  concern- 
ing this  point,  they  will  be  removed  by  the  outcome  of  Inves- 
tigation B,  in  which  every  student  of  one  college  took  part, 
and  which  is  in  substantial  agreement  with  the  result  of 
Investigation  A. 

A  wider  and  more  accurate  representative  value  might  be 
claimed  for  this  inquiry  if  each  participating  college  were 
represented  in  it  by  a  number  of  answers  proportional  to  the 
number  of  its  students.  Interesting  additional  knowledge 
would  have  been  gained  if  the  colleges  had  been  classified 
according  to  their  academic  standards  and  religious  inter- 
ests, and  the  answers  from  each  had  been  correlated  with 
these  features.  Again,  information  of  considerable  impor- 
tance would  have  been  secured  if  entering  classes  could  have 
been  compared  with  senior  classes.  These  and  other  inquiries 
would  be  well  worth  the  trouble  they  would  entail,  but  they 
will  I  fear  become  practicable  only  when  the  existing  tra- 


186  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

I.     TYPICAL  ANSWERS,  IN  EXTENSO 

Before  presenting  the  results  of  this  inquiry  in 
statistical  form,  I  shall  quote  in  extenso  a  number  of 
typical  answers  '  with  the  purpose  of  illustrating  the 
diverse  points  of  view  and  the  temper  of  these  stu- 
dents. With  one  exception,  every  quotation  is  rep- 
resentative of  a  large  number  of  others  of  the  same 
type,  if  not  of  the  same  quality.  No  student  of 
human  nature  will  complain  of  the  number  of  these 
documents.    He  will  rather  find  a  keen  interest  in 


ditional  opposition,  passive  when  not  active,  to  the  search 
for  definite  information  regarding  religious  beliefs  has  con- 
siderably weakened. 

If  the  scope  of  this  investigation  is  narrow,  it  is  not 
through  lack  of  desire  on  my  part  to  make  it  broader.  Cir- 
cumstances imposed  narrow  limitations  as  a  condition  of 
success. 

QUESTIONNAIRE  UPON  THE  BELIEF  IN  GOD 

The  purpose  of  the  following  questions  is  to  find  out  what 
are  your  real  beliefs  concerning  God.  We  know  well  enough 
what  people  are  suposed  to  believe,  but  we  have  little  op- 
portunity of  finding  out  what  they  actually  believe. 

Not  what  one  should  or  would  like  to  believe,  but  what 
one  really  believes,  is  asked  for  in  these  questions. 

Be  as  clear  and  definite  as  you  can  be  without  going  be- 
yond the  truth,  but  do  not  refuse  to  answer  because  you  can- 
not be  otherwise  than  indefinite.  The  very  lack  of  definite- 
ness  is  a  fact  well  worth  ascertaining.  The  answers  need  not 
be  signed,  but  the  approximate  age  is  desired. 

1.  Do  you  think  of  God  as  a  personal  or  impersonal  being? 

2.  What  difference  do  you  make  between  a  personal  and 
an  impersonal  being? 

3.  Describe  as  fully  as  you  can  how,  under  what  image, 
or  images,  you  think  of  God.  Distinguish  here  between  what 
in  your  description  is  for  you  merely  an  image,  a  form  of 
speech,  and  what  is  the  reality. 

4.  What  difference  would  the  non-existence  of  God  make 
in  your  daily  life? 

*  Except  for  abbreviations,  these  answers  are  published 
here  as  they  were  written.  The  numbers  designate  the  ques- 
tions to  which  the  quotations  refer. 


THE  STATISTICS  187 

observing  the  amazingly  different  ways  in  which 
persons  in  similar  situations  think  and  feel.  Fre- 
quently they  occupy  opposite  positions  on  questions 
declared  by  the  Christian  church  to  be  matters  of 
salvation  or  damnation.  And  yet,  these  young  peo- 
ple are  receiving  the  same  teaching,  they  work  and 
play  together;  and,  for  the  most  part,  do  not  give 
any  indication  in  their  conduct  of  these  alleged  life- 
and-death  differences. 

The  reader  interested  in  religious  education  should 
find  the  following  pages  particularly  enlightening. 
Vigorous  efforts  are  being  made  in  the  United  States 
to  standardize  educational  methods,  and  protests  in- 
spired by  the  danger  of  uniformity  have  already  been 
heard.  This  investigation  will  show  that  religion 
is  running  an  opposite  danger.  Stupendous  igno- 
rance is  the  price  paid  by  our  youth  for  the  absence 
of  teaching  and  guidance.  The  situation  cannot  be 
improved  until  traditional  and  no  longer  teachable 
beliefs  have  been  replaced  in  the  confidence  of  public 
opinion  by  others  in  agreement  with  modern  knowl- 
edge. 

It  will  be  observed  that  an  opportunity  was  given 
the  respondents  to  define  the  meaning  they  ascribed 
to  the  term  '*  personal  "  as  applied  to  God.  This 
seemed  wiser  than  for  me  to  provide  a  definition. 
Their  efforts  to  define  that  expression  are  most  sug- 
gestive. 

I  should  perhaps  add,  by  way  of  partial  explana- 
tion of  the  intellectual  naivete  and  other  defects  of 
several  in  these  answers,  that  the  writers  were  given 
little  more  than  a  half  hour  during  which  to  produce 


188  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

something  like  photographs  of  the  content  of  their 
mind  with  regard  to  one  of  the  most  difficult  sub- 
jects possible. 

I.  A  tvoman,  age  19. — I  begin  with  the  naive  and 
rather  commonplace  statement  of  a  person  who  feels 
keenly  the  need  for  affection  and  moral  support. 

"  1.  God  is  a  very  personal  being  because  he  al- 
ways listens  and  answers,  and  is  .  .  .  interested  in 
us. 

"  3.  Under  no  image  or  images  do  I  think  of  God. 
He  exists  everywhere,  was  heard  as  a  '  still,  small 
voice,'  and  seen  as  a  dove,  but  I  do  not  think  of  him 
as  such.  Except  as  he  was  revealed  in  his  son, 
Jesus  Christ,  I  have  no  image  of  God  in  my  mind. 
...  I  know  he  is  not  like  anything  I  have  ever  seen. 
How  do  I  think  of  God?  As  a  spirit,  infinite,  eter- 
nal, and  unchangeable ;  in  him  dwell  wisdom,  power, 
holiness,  justice,  goodness,  and  truth.  I  think  of 
God  as  the  maker  of  this  whole  world,  of  every  man, 
woman,  and  child  in  it.  He  knows  the  past,  present, 
and  future.  I  think  of  him  as  the  ruler  of  the  lives 
of  each  of  us.  And  out  of  his  inexhaustible  love,  he 
is  deeply  interested  in  every  person  on  this  earth. 
Therefore  we  can  pray  to  him,  asking  and  receiving 
what  is  good  for  us.  He  is  like  a  human  father,  but 
divine. 

"  4.  If  I  did  not  believe  that  there  is  a  God,  if  this 
life  was  all  (for  the  belief  in  God  brings  with  it  a 
belief  in  a  world  to  come) ,  I  think  my  life  would  be 
a  very  unhappy  one.  In  that  case  one  might  as 
well  enjoy  himself  as  much  as  possible  here.  ...  I 
certainly  would  do  what  pleases  me  most 


THE  STATISTICS  189 

''  It  would  be  almost  unbearable  to  part  from  one's 
friends  if  one  did  not  hope  ever  to  see  them  again." 
II.  A  looman,  sophomore,  very  different  from  the 
one  just  quoted. 

-  1.  I  do  not  believe  in  God.      (This,  of  course, 
prevents  my  answering  the  first  three  questions.) 

''  4  I  can  remember  when  I  gave  up  my  last  at- 
tempt to  believe  in  God.  The  only  difference  I  felt 
in  my  daily  life  when  I  gave  up  the  belief  was  that  1 
felt  a  greater  sense  of  responsibility  for  my  own  con- 
duct. I  also  felt  more  independent.  I  have  not 
been  able  to  shake  off  a  slight  feeling  of  contempt  for 
the  narrow  bigotry  and  superstition  of  conventional 
beliefs  which  most  people  accept  without  allowing 
their  reason  to  act." 

III.  A  ivoman,  junior.— The  poetical,  richly  sen- 
sitive nature  of  this  person  makes  a  strong  contrast 
with  the  hard  self-reliance  of  the  preceding  one. 
"  1.  I  think  of  God  as  a  personal  being. 
"  2.  The  difference  between  a  personal  and  an  im- 
personal God  to  me  is  that  a  *  personal  God '  is  in- 
terested in  each  human  being  .  .  .  whereas  an  '  im- 
personal being '  is  a  ruling  law  that  sets  the  world 
in  motion  and  allows  natural  forces  once  created  to 
operate,  with  indifference  on  his  part.  The  difference 
is  I  think,  that  of  a  God  who  feels  (though  I  suppose 
not  with  such  violence  as  to  disturb  his  perfect  con- 
trol) as  contrasted  with  a  God  who  knows  no  emo- 
tion, but  is  all  reason  and  power. 

"3.  My  conception  of  God,  that  is,  the  image  I 
form  of  him,  changes.  Most  of  the  time  he  is  to  me 
the  spirit  of  life  in  the  out-of-door  world  and  then 


190  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

the  feeling  I  have  of  him  is  of  some  strong  force 
pushing  up  from  the  ground  or  in  motion  of  some 
sort,  very  free  and  pure  and  joyous.    I  don't  think  I 
embody  his  force;  I  merely  conceive  of  it  as  the 
spirit  within  the  trees,  grass,  or  what  not,  and  in 
people    the    active    impelling   force   that    produces 
some  special  act  of  strength  or  beauty.    God  at  such 
times  is  the  lifting  power  of  things,  yet  even  then  he 
is  personal,  a  disembodied  joy  is  the  nearest  I  have 
ever  gotten  to  a  definition  of  him.    At  other  times, 
when  I  am  indoors,  and  cannot  get  into  the  buoy- 
ancy of  this  conception  of  God,  when  imagination  is 
dull  or  I  am  depressed,  I  think  of  God  in  the  image 
of  a  vast  and  understanding  face,  a  face  that  is  un- 
defined except  in  the  general  impression  of  august 
might  and  sympathy.    This  is  to  me  merely  a  sym- 
bol which  I  never  think  of  as  real.    It  comes  as  the 
consequence  of  human  limitations  and  I  take  it  as  an 
expression  of  the  sluggishness  of  my  mind.    At  times 
when  the  visual  sense  is  not  keenly  alive,  God  means 
to  me  a  voice,  the  voices  heard  in  plant  life,  and 
then  it  is  still  a  manifestation  of  a  personal  being 
but  I  cannot  conceive  of  him  further. 

"  4.  The  difference  in  the  actual  doings  of  daily 
life  would  be  immaterial,  and  the  relations  between 
me  and  human  beings  would  remain  the  same,  be- 
cause the  humanitarian  motive  seems  stronger  than 
the  divine.  The  diflPerence  would  come  in  the  lack  of 
final  purpose  seen  in  life,  an  exchange  from  optim- 
ism to  pessimism,  and  more  immediately  there  would 
be  a  great  diff*erence  in  my  feeling  for  nature  since 
now  my  views  are  touched  with  Pantheism." 


THE  STATISTICS  191 

IV.  A  woman,  junior. — In  nothing  do  these  stu- 
dents differ  more  than  in  their  opinion  of  the  effect 
the  loss  of  belief  in  a  personal  God  would  have  upon 
their  daily  life.  Number  III  thinks  that  it  would 
not  alter  her  relations  with  her  fellowmen ;  number  I, 
on  the  contrary,  says  she  would  pursue  her  own  en- 
joyment and  nothing  else.  She  also  thinks  that 
the  disappearance  of  God  would  involve  annihilation 
at  death,  and  that  seems  to  her  unbearable.  Num- 
ber IV  is  of  the  same  mind  as  I.  There  would,  she 
thinks,  be  no  use  in  trying  to  live  without  God. 
Others,  however,  whom  I  shall  quote,  and  many 
others  not  mentioned  here,  get  along,  as  they  think, 
very  well  without  God  and  immortality.  That,  as 
we  all  know,  is  quite  possible.  For  the  rest,  num- 
ber IV  is  evidently  in  a  great  muddle,  and  in  distress 
because  she  can  longer  follow  the  ''  very  firmly  fixed 
habit  of  mind  "  formed  in  her  childhood.  The  mag- 
nitude and  intricacy  of  the  issues  on  which  she  feels 
obliged  to  take  sides,  quite  overpower  her. 

''  1.  My  whole  idea  of  God  is  very  definite.  I 
think  of  God  as  personal. 

''  2.  I  think  that  God  is  personal  in  that  he  stands 
for  a  spiritual  power  that  influences  man,  at  least  the 
higher  types  of  men,  and  influences  them  individu- 
ally. I  believe  that  it  is  this  spiritual  power  in  men 
that  makes  them  human  and  that  makes  their  high- 
er development  possible.  .  .  .  But  whether  this  comes 
from  an  outside  source  such  as  God  or  is  the  natural 
result  of  man's  evolution  I  am  not  sure.  I  do  not 
believe  that  God  exercises  much  control  over  actual 
events. 


192  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

*'  3.  God  seems  to  me  wholly  this  spiritual  force. 
I  do  not  believe  that  he  is  pleased  or  displeased  with 
actions,  but  I  believe  that  the  more  a  person  acquires 
this  spirit  the  more  he  comes  to  feel  what  is  called 
'  in  harmony  with  God.'  Hell  seems  to  me  the  losing 
of  this  power  and  heaven  the  complete  acquiring  of 
it.  I  don't  know  whether  I  believe  in  the  immortality 
of  the  soul  or  not. 

"  4.  I  have  been  brought  up  in  a  family  and  in 
associations  that  have  made  religion  a  very  firmly 
fixed  habit  of  mind,  and  I  very  naturally  try  to  be- 
lieve in  all  the  orthodox  beliefs.  And  it  makes  me 
always  very  unhappy  when  I  think  that  there  is  no 
God.  Of  course,  there  would  be  no  use  in  living 
if  there  were  no  God  and  no  immortality,  and  I  think 
it  is  largely  this  feeling  that  makes  me  try  to  per- 
suade myself  that  there  is.  Certainly  there  is  some 
spiritual  power  somewhere  and  some  First  Cause  for 
the  universe.  ...  I  do  not  believe  that  I  shall  ever 
come  to  definitely  and  finally  believe  in  anything,  for 
about  such  things  I  shall  never  be  able  to  make  up 
my  mind.  I  have  changed  some  of  my  ideas  even 
since  I  wrote  this  down,  and  it  seems  to  me  impos- 
sible that  any  one  should  ever  say  he  is  sure  of  any- 
thing." 

V.  A  woman,  junior. — Here  is  a  person  who  seems 
to  possess  settled  views.  Her  description  of  a  God 
both  personal  and  impersonal  is  interesting.  Very 
few  of  these  students  give  evidence  of  so  much 
thoughtfulness. 

"  1.  My  idea  of  God  is  a  combination  of  the  per- 
sonal and  impersonal  idea.    I  believe  in  Him  as  ab- 


THE  STATISTICS  193 

solutely  perfect,  and  complete  in  all  conceivable  and 
inconceivable  respects ;  that  is,  that  He  is  something 
beyond  what  the  mind  of  man  can  grasp.  What  we 
know  of  Him  is  only  a  part  of  His  nature.  He  is 
therefore  impersonal  in  a  general  way.  But  the  con- 
ception of  His  completeness  demands  that  He  have 
all  characteristics,  and  therefore  He  has  a  personal 
side. 

"  2.  As  personal  I  consider  a  Being  who  has  the 
human  attributes,  who  has  emotions,  senses,  and  per- 
haps human  form,  resembling  man,  but  not  neces- 
sarily on  the  same  scale  as  man's.  An  impersonal 
Being  would  be  one  who  represented  the  idea  of  cer- 
tain qualities,  but  was  not  their  embodiment,  who 
did  not  stand  for  them  in  material  form.  The  im- 
personal idea  is  of  a  vague  formless  Being  without 
definiteness,  not  so  much  from  a  deficiency  of  the 
personal  qualities  as  from  an  existence  too  large  for 
our  minds  to  grasp.  It  is  as  though  every  quality 
were  unlimited  and  stretched  out  to  the  infinite. 

"  3.  I  believe  that  the  personal  aspect  of  God  is 
apparent  only  through  the  necessity  of  His  com- 
municating with  man,  that  for  this  one  purpose  we 
see  this  one  part  of  Him,  but  we  are  unable  to  look 
beyond  and  see  Him  in  His  entire  nature.  For  this 
reason,  in  my  image  of  Him  only  the  essential  qual- 
ities for  communication  are  present.  I  think  of 
Him  as  having  the  sense  of  hearing,  for  he  listens 
to  my  prayers ;  as  having  the  qualities  of  mercy  and 
forgiveness,  for  I  know  he  displays  them  toward  me ; 
and  as  having  other  qualities,  such  as  interest  in 
human  affairs,  etc.    But  in  order  that  he  may  show 


194  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

these  same  qualities  to  everyone,  he  must  be  per- 
fect and  complete,  and  in  my  conception  of  the  in- 
finitely complete,  the  impersonal  aspect  is  also  neces- 
sary to  His  nature.  .  .  .  This  is,  therefore,  my  real 
idea  of  Him :  certain  personal  appearances  that  He 
should  have  as  personal  Being  are  not  present,  are 
merely  a  form  of  speech. 

"  4.  I  can  say  sincerely,  that,  as  far  as  I  can  see, 
the  non-existence  of  God  would  take  all  the  interest 
out  of  my  daily  life.  I  have  a  feeling  of  His  power 
in  everything  that  happens  to  me,  and  all  my  doings 
are  generally  with  an  effort  to  please  Him,  but  some- 
times in  rebellion  against  His  power,  for  the  very 
fact  that  it  is  stronger  than  my  own." 
VI.  A  man,  sophomore,  aged  20. — 
*'  1.  It  is  so  recently  that  I  have  begun  to  think  on 
the  matter  of  a  deity  that  I  have  not  absolutely 
decided  as  yet  what  God  really  is.  To  me,  however, 
in  my  present  state  of  mind,  I  think  of  God  rather 
as  an  impersonal  being. 

''  2.  That  is  to  say,  I  do  not  conceive  of  him  as 
being  a  certain  body  or  material  substance.  For 
this,  it  appears  to  me,  would  have  to  be  limited  in 
proportions,  but  rather  as  an  all-pervading  power, 
as  it  were,  having  all  the  senses  of  man  and  animal, 
only  in  a  most  perfect  form.  Those  powers  are  not 
confined  to  one  body,  for  I  seem  to  believe  that  God 
is  everywhere  and  anywhere,  and  if  he  were  a  body, 
it  appears  to  me  there  would  have  been  the  resistance 
offered  to  his  penetration  that  there  is  to  other 
material  things.  Thus,  for  instance,  I  believe  that 
God  can  enter  and  at  times  is  in  my  heart  and 


THE  STATISTICS  195 

body,  and  were  he  a  person,  he  could  not  well  be 
divided  up  into  bits.  Thus  to  me  the  difference 
between  a  personal  being  and  an  impersonal  being 
is  that  the  former  seems  to  confine  God  into  a  certain 
space  or  body,  where  there  are  hands  and  feet,  and 
a  head,  etc.,  while  an  impersonal  being  has  noth- 
ing of  the  kind,  except  that  it  fills  the  universe  and 
is  shapeless. 

''  3  It  may  be  a  remnant  of  youth,  but  anyhow, 
every  time  I  think  of  God  there  appears  a  vague 
image  of  a  man,  with  all  members  of  the  body,  just 
enormously  large.  The  next  instant,  however,  I 
correct  my  image,  and  instead  of  that  there  appears 
a  kind  of  power  (as  if  it  were  an  expanse  of  gas) 
floating  in  the  air  and  pervading  everything.  The 
image  thus  is  only  a  convenient  way  in  my  mmd  ot 

thinking  of  God. 

''  4.  The  non-existence  of  a  God  would  make  me 
give  up  the  prayers  which  I  say  daily,  and  further 
would  prevent  me  from  keeping  the  Sabbath 
holy.  ...  As  far  as  moral  principles  are  con- 
cerned, the  existence  or  non-existence  is  immaterial." 

VII.  A  woman,  age  20.— Here  is  a  radical  non- 
comformist,  with  very  little  respect  for  clinging 
parasites  seeking  shelter  and  warmth  within  church 

doors,  . 

"  3,  I  think  of  God  merely  as  a  term  symbolizing 
our  feeling  for  right  and  wrong,  developed  from  the 
savage  state  when  the  struggle  for  existence  alone, 
without  regard  for  any  intellectual  superiority  of 
man  to  beast,  influenced  the  human  race.  I  believe 
that  by  God  is  [should  be]  meant  the  fine  distmc- 


196  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

tion  of  right  and  wrong  which  grows  finer  and  finer 
as  the  development  of  our  intellect  advances.  .  .  . 
I  believe  with  Socrates  that  men  would  do  right  if 
they  knew  enough  and  had  been  properly  instructed 
what  a  momentous  thing  is  at  stake  if  they  choose 
the  wrong.  Nobody  who  knows  would  choose  the 
wrong. 

*'  I  do  not  think  of  God  under  any  image  but  rather 
as  a  universal  influence.  I  believe  it  is  within 
human  power  to  live  quite  independently  of  any 
miraculous  help  of  perhaps  a  supernatural  influence, 
such  as  most  people  conceive  God  to  be.  At  least 
my  hope  urges  me  thus  to  believe.  It  is  the  under- 
lying cowardice,  a  remnant  of  the  savage  state  of 
the  human  race,  that  causes  us  to  lay  our  troubles 
at  the  door  of  a  divine  being.  As  man  gradually 
advances  in  civilization,  he  more  and  more  casts  off 
this  weakness,  I  think,  and  learns  to  stand  on  his 
own  feet  with  this  one  belief  to  reassure  him — to 
do  right  for  right's  sake  and  not  for  any  reward 
in  heaven.  To  me  the  heavenly  reward  at  the  end 
of  life  is  another  sign  of  cowardice  in  man,  because 
he  does  not  dare  to  face  the  grave  and  likes  to  de- 
lude himself  and  not  face  the  actual  state  of  affairs. 
To  this  may  be  added  conceit;  for  why  is  man  so 
much  better  than  all  other  existing  things  that  all 
else  should  perish  but  he?'* 

VIII.  A  man,  junior,  age  21. — This  person  thinks 
of  God  as  "  real,  actual  skin  and  blood  and  bones, 
something  we  shall  see  with  our  own  eyes  some 
day  "  !    Doubts,  however,  have  appeared ;  he  stands 


THE  STATISTICS  197 

watching  curiously,  and,  it  seems,  peacefully,  their 
advance. 

.  . ''  1.  I  have  been  brought  up  to  think  of  God  as 
a  personal  being,  a  very  real,  actually  existing 
person,  who  watches  over  us  all,  treating  us  with 
fortune  or  misfortune  as  we  merit  them.  As  time 
goes  on  I  feel  myself  growing  skeptical  as  to  the 
fact  that  God  sees  everything,  and  has  foresight; 
but  as  yet  the  early  belief  taught  me  still  makes  me 
believe  that  we  are  absolutely  at  his  mercy — fixed 
fate,  you  may  call  it. 

"  3.  Here  again,  due  to  the  fact  that  I  have  given 
so  little  actual  thought,  my  earlier  ideas  still  hold 
clear.  I  think  of  God  as  the  perfect  being  living 
somewhere  in  the  distance  surrounded  by  the  com- 
pany of  the  blessed.  He  is  all-powerful,  but  withal 
magnanimous.  I  think  of  him  as  real,  actual  skin 
and  blood  and  bones,  something  we  shall  see  with 
our  eyes  some  day,  no  matter  what  lives  we  lead 
here  on  earth. 

"  4.  In  an  uncertain  way,  I  feel  that  I  am  watched 
over  and  taken  care  of  by  the  Almighty,  and  if  he 
should  cease  to  be  and  I  should  know  of  it,  I  should 
feel  like  a  ship  without  a  pilot,  not  daring  to  do 
much  for  fear  of  hidden  reefs,  and  for  fear  of  suf- 
fering harm  in  meeting  the  many  passing  derelicts. 
I  have  faith  in  the  belief  that  he  guides  our  foot- 
steps, and  I  should  falter  greatly  if  the  leader 
should  be  taken  away." 

IX.  A  woman. — I  quote  this  pathetic  instance 
because  it  is  typical  of  a  great  many  young  people 
who  have  begun  life  with  a  conception  of  God  and 


198  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

religious    habits    in    disagreement    with    modern 
knowledge. 

"1.  I  believe  in  an  impersonal  God  though  I 
should  love  to  believe  in  a  personal  one.  I  believe 
that  there  is  some  great  force  back  of  nature,  a 
great  Mechanism  or  Governing  Force — the  Creator 
of  all  things.  I  believe  that  after  this  God  has 
created  us,  there  is  no  continuation  of  any  personal 
connection.  Therefore,  I  cannot  think  of  God  as 
a  close  personal  Father,  and  when  I  do  pray,  I 
always  feel  that  the  effort  is  futile,  and  consequently 
when  I  am  in  trouble  I  get  no  spiritual  comfort  or 
uplifting. 

"  4.  I  am  afraid  the  non-existence  of  God  w^ould 
make  but  little  difference  in  my  daily  life.  I  pray 
to  Him  every  night,  but  it  is  always  with  a  sort  of 
superstitious  dread, — a  fear  that  neglect  of  Him 
may  provoke  anger.  Yet  my  prayer  is  never  help- 
ful to  me.  Whenever  I  finish  it  I  am  always  tor- 
mented by  the  question.  After  all,  is  there  really  a 
God,  and  does  he  hear  what  I  am  saying?  If  so, 
why  does  he  not  let  me  know  of  his  existence  as  I 
have  so  often  prayed  to  him  to  do.  .  .  .  ?  " 

X.  A  man,  age  19. — ^He  represents  also,  I  think, 
the  condition  of  a  large  number  of  college  students. 

"  1.  I  have  two  beliefs  in  regard  to  God,  which 
are  entirely  inconsistent  with  one  another.  I  see 
the  world  about  me  and  realize  that  a  great  will, 
termed  God,  must  have  created  it.  At  the  time  of 
creation,  I  look  upon  him  as  a  personal  God.  Now 
it  seems  to  me  that  God  having  set  the  machinery 
working  is  letting  it  run  its  course  and  is  taking 


THE  STATISTICS  199 

absolutely  no  part  whatsoever  in  the  affairs  of  man. 
This  being  the  case,  I  believe  in  no  God  at  present 
but  in  nature  and  its  works  in  which  God  has  re- 
vealed himself,  and  therefore  I  look  upon  Him  now 
as  purely  impersonal.  Naturally  I  have  never  been 
able  to  reconcile  these  beliefs. 

**  3.  God  is  to  me  a  reverential  word-image.  It 
has  been  dinned  into  me  so  much  that  God  is  All- 
merciful,  Omnipotent,  and  Just,  that  through  a  kind 
of  superstitious  fear  I  make  myself  feel  respectful 
at  the  sight  or  sound  of  his  name.  I  have  abso- 
lutely no  visual  image  of  God;  if  I  thought  he  re- 
sembled man  I  could  hardly  reverence  him  as  I  do 
at  present.  I  love  to  think  of  him  as  infinity  or 
nature,  and  quell  my  doubts  by  changing  the  subject. 

"  4.  If  the  non-existence  of  God  were  clearly 
proved,  I  think  it  would  make  but  slight  difference, 
if  any,  in  my  daily  life.  If  the  spirit  of  generosity, 
justice,  self-sacrifice,  and  honesty  is  inculcated  in 
one,  the  mere  fact  that  the  higher  being  is  found  to 
be  a  myth  could  not  destroy  those  characteristics. 
My  character  would  not  undergo  any  reformation, 
but  I  might  discontinue  the  prayers  I  make  to  God, 
which  I  do  in  a  spirit  of  cowardice,  for  I  fear  to  tell 
myself  openly  there  is  no  God  .  .  .  lest  punish- 
ment (which  I  do  not  believe  will  come  because  of 
any  belief  of  mine)  may  be  visited  upon  me." 

The  first  of  the  two  final  illustrations  comes  from 
the  only  student  in  my  records  who  gives  evidence 
of  having  been  properly  drilled  in  the  official  beliefs, 
and  who  has  not  been  shaken  by  the  spirit  of  the 


200  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

age.    The  second  stands  squarely  upon  a  non-Chris- 
tian foundation. 

XI.  A  woman,  age  20. — 

"  1.  Personal  being,  because  our  creed  teaches  us 
that  God  exists  in  three  persons. 

"  3.  I  think  of  God  as  merciful,  loving,  just,  all- 
powerful  Father,  existing  in  three  distinct  persons 
1 — Father,  Son,  and  Holy  ; Ghost — known  as  the 
Trinity.  The  Trinity  is  a  mystery,  accepted  as  an 
article  of  faith  by  some  religions  and  not  accepted 
by  others.  I  believe  that  the  Father  created  us, 
that  the  Son  redeemed  us,  and  that  the  Holy  Ghost 
sanctified  us.  I  never  think  of  God  as  one  distinct 
person ;  at  the  mention  of  the  name,  the  idea  of  God 
in  three  persons  comes  into  my  mind. 

"  4.  The  non-existence  of  God  would  make  a  de- 
cided difference  in  my  daily  life.  First  of  all,  in  the 
m.orning  I  should  never  thank  Him  who  has  guarded 
us  safely  during  the  night  and  I  should  not  ask  His 
protection  during  the  day.  In  a  very  short  time, 
I  should  be  selffish,  doing  all  I  could  for  myself,  for- 
getting that  I  should  give  assistance  to  the  needy 
and  overladen.  All  my  work  would  be  done  for  the 
glory  of  man  and  not  for  the  glory  of  the  One  who 
has  made  us.  At  the  close  of  the  day,  I  should  not 
thank  God  for  the  many  blessings  bestowed  on  me 
which  enabled  me  to  do  my  work  in  such  a  way  that 
it  would  be  pleasing  in  the  sight  of  God." 

XII.  A  woman,  age  18. — 

*'  1.  As  an  impersonal  being. 
"  2.  I  have  never  tried  to  formulate  my  somewhat 
vague  beliefs,  but  I  mean  that  I  do  not  believe  in  a 


THE  STATISTICS 


201 


Supreme  Being  who  enters  into  and  regulates  the 
course  of  our  daily  existence.  There  must  be  some 
supreme  force  which  regulates  the  universe  as  a 
whole,  but  I  cannot  conceive  of  it  as  anything  near 
or  in  any  way  tangible. 

"  4.  As  far  as  I  can  see,  it  does  not  in  any  way 
determine  my  daily  life." 

We  may  now  pass  to  the  statistical  results  of  the 
investigation. 

II.     THE   PERSONAL  OR  IMPERSONAL  NATURE 

OF  GOD 

The  answers  to  the  first  question  required  careful 
interpretation,  for  the  words  ''  personal  "  and  *'  im- 
personal "  did  not  convey  the  same  meaning  to  every 
student.  But,  as  the  second  question  usually 
brought  out  the  significance  ascribed  to  these  terms, 
their  interpretations  rarely  presented  any  difficulty. 
In  chart  I,  "personal  God''  has  the  meaning  de- 
fined on  pages  173  and  174. 


MEN 


CHART  I 

WOMEN 


n 


BELIEVERS  IN  A 
PERSONAL  GOD 

\BELIEVERS  IN  AN 
^IMPERSONAL  GOD 

BELIEVERS  IN  BOTH 


DOUBTERS 


As  many  as  31  per  cent,  of  the  men,  and  only  11 
per  cent,  of  the  women,  conceive  God  as  impersonal. 
If  the  "  doubtful  "  cases  are  added,  the  percentages 
rise  to  40.5  per  cent,  for  the  men,  and  to  15.7  per 


202  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

cent,  for  the  women.  This  greater  variation  from 
tradition  on  the  part  of  the  men  is  one  of  the  strik- 
ing features  of  these  records.  It  must  be  referred 
on  the  whole,  I  think,  to  a  stronger  impulse  to  self- 
afRrmation  and  freedom,  and  to  a  correlated  lesser 
need  of  affection  and  of  moral  support  felt  by  the 
men.' 

Investigation  B  (see  the  following  section)  indi- 
cates that  the  proportion  of  disbelievers  in  immor- 
tality increases  considerably  from  the  freshman  to 
the  senior  year  in  college.  Considered  all  together, 
my  data  would  indicate  that  from  40  to  50  per  cent, 
of  the  young  men  leaving  college  entertain  an  idea 
of  God  incompatible  with  the  acceptance  of  the 
Christian  religion,  even  as  interpreted  by  the  liber- 
al clergy. 

The  conception  of  God  varies  frequently  in  the 
same  person  as  he  passes  from  one  mood  to  another. 
These  cases  have  been  counted  under  '*  Both  Per- 
sonal and  Impersonal."  Here  are  a  few  instances 
of  this  henotheism : — 

A  woman,  age  22. — "  In  an  agitated  frame  of 
mind  I  think  of  God  as  a  personal  father  who  is 
ready  to  reward  or  punish,  but  generally  I  think 
of  God  as  a  mass  of  forces,  having  certain  effects 
following  from  certain  causes,  the  force  that  causes 
us  to  do  good  brings  with  it  its  own  reward,  and 
vice  versaJ' 

A  man,  age  21. — '*  God  to  my  mind  is  an  imper- 
sonal being,  but  whether  for  convenience  or  through 


'  See  Chapter  X,  Individualism  as  a  Cause  of  the  Rejection 
of  Traditional  Belief. 


THE  STATISTICS  203 

sheer  impotence  I  pray  to  him  as  a  personal  being. 
I  probably  think  of  Christ  when  I  pray.  ...  I 
know  I  talk  on  both  sides  of  the  fence,  but  that  is 
just  where  I  am,  and  until  I  get  personality  into 
the  being  which  I  realize  is  impersonal,  I  must  try 
to  find  it.  Experience  teaches  me  it  is  the  '  juste 
milieu '  that  is  worth  most." 

A  man,  age  20.—''  I  have  never  given  this  matter 
serious  attention.  ...  My  two  views  of  God  in- 
volve contradictions.  .  .  .  When  I  regard  God  as  a 
creator  and  ruler  He  is  distinctly  personal.  But 
when  I  believe  that  man  works  out  his  own  salva- 
tion, and  that  things  need  no  superior  mind  to 
direct  them,  then  God  seems  to  me  impersonal.  .  .  . 
An  impersonal  being  may  be  compared  to  an  au- 
tomaton.** 

But  whether  the  contradiction  is  realized  or  not 
by  the  student,  it  never  seems  particularly  to  dis- 
turb him.  He  thinks  of  God  according  to  his  prac- 
tical needs,  and  if  logic  is  considered  at  all,  it  is 
in  second  place : — 

A  woman,  age  23.—"  I  think  of  God  as  both  a 
personal  and  impersonal  being.  I  think  of  him  as 
personal  when  I  feel  the  need  of  some  support  out- 
side myself;  a  sympathy  and  understanding  which 
no  one  else  can  give.  I  like  to  think  of  him  as  im- 
personal at  other  times ;  as  a  power  like  ether,  which 
is  infused  through  everything." 

A  woman,  senior.—''  When  I  am  just  thinking 
about  him  in  a  speculative  or  philosophical  way,  I 
generally  think  of  him  as  impersonal,  but  for  prac- 
tical purposes  I  think  of  him  as  personal. 


204  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

"  By  a  personal  God  I  mean  the  God  I  naturally 
turn  towards  when  I  feel  as  if  things  were  getting 
too  hard  for  me.'' 

A  man,  age  20. — "  Knowing  as  little  as  I  do  of 
the  two  sides,  the  personal  and  the  impersonal,  I 
should  always  rely  upon  the  personal  nature  of  God 
to  bring  me  through." 

The  difference  between  these  young  people — the 
flower  of  the  land — who  turn  to  God  when  they 
need  him,  and  the  Zulus,  who  think  of  the  spirits 
of  their  forefathers  only  when  they  go  to  war,*  is 
that  the  savages  never  disbelieve  in  the  existence  of 
these  forefathers,  whereas  in  their  calm  moments 
college  men  and  women  do  deny  the  God  on  whom 
they  call  in  the  time  of  their  need. 

III.  THE  FORM,  OR  IMAGE,  OR  SYMBOL  UNDER 
WHICH  GOD  IS  CONCEIVED 

Two  thirds  of  the  men,  and  nearly  half  the  women 
disclaim  any  mental  picture  of  God.'  The  larger 
number  of  the  remainder  distinguish  between  image 
or  symbol,  and  reality.  In  a  remarkably  large  num- 
ber of  cases,  however,  a  description  in  sensory  terms 
is  held  to  represent  God  adequately.  That  young 
people  having  reached  the  mental  development  of 
college  students  should  think  of  God  as  "  actual  skin 
and  blood  and  bones,  something  we  shall  see  with 

*  Max  Muller:  The  Science  of  Religion;  page  43. 

'  Of  290  men,  39  per  cent,  imagine  God  in  human  form.  To 
80  of  these  the  form  is  a  mere  symbol;  to  20,  it  is  a  reality; 
while  7  find  it  impossible  to  decide  whether  the  image  repre- 
sents the  reality  or  is  a  symbol.  Of  640  women,  34.5  per  cent, 
picture  God  in  human  shape.  Of  these,  166  state  definitely 
that  the  image  is  a  mere  symbol,  42  think  is  actually  repre- 
sents the  reality,  while  13  cannot  decide. 


THE  STATISTICS  205 

our  eyes  some  day,"  is  almost  incredible;  but  the 
evidence  is  compelling.  Seven  per  cent,  hold  ap- 
parently to  a  thoroughly  anthropomorphic  con- 
ception of  God : — 

A  man,  age  21.—''  I  imagine  God  in  the  same 
form  as  any  human  being ;  the  same  as  man.  I  think 
God  and  man  are  equal  physically,  or  were  equal 
physically  at  one  time  but  man  has  deteriorated. 
God  has  all  the  feelings  and  passions  of  mankind. 
He  can  love  and  hate,  reward  and  punish,  as  a  man 

does." 

A  woman,  senior. — "  God  has  always  been  and 
still  is  a  personal  Being  for  me.  .  .  .  By  personal 
I  think  I  mean  a  being  which  has  individuality,  one 
that  has  a  definite  shape,  in  the  sense  that  it  is  dis- 
tinguishable from  empty  space." 

A  woman,  age  19.—''  I  have  always  pictured  him 
according  to  a  description  in  Paradise  Lost  as  seat- 
ed upon  a  throne,  while  around  him  are  angels  play- 
ing on  harps  and  singing  hymns.  The  angels  are 
merely  images  which  are  not  realities,  while  the  fig- 
ure of  God  stands  for  the  reality." 

A  man,  age  20.—"  I  think  of  God  as  a  personal 
being.  A  personal  being  would  have  a  form  that 
you  could  see  or  touch,  while  an  impersonal  being 
would  have  nothing  in  common  with  human  beings." 

The  character  of  the  imagery  is  frequently  traced 
to  Sunday-school  pictures,  church  windows,  statu- 
ary, and  the  like.  The  human  shape  is  naturally 
the  most  frequent  form  assumed  by  the  representa- 
tions ;  occasionally,  a  flame,  a  sphere,  a  cloud,  an  all- 
seeing  eye,  an  immense  voice,  a  soft  wind,  stand  as 


206  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

symbol.  The  following  illustrations  give  only  a  very 
inadequate  idea  of  the  variety  and  frequent  oddity  of 
these  images: — 

A  woman,  freshman. — "  I  think  of  God  as  hav- 
ing bodily  form  and  being  much  larger  than  the 
average  man.  He  has  a  radiant  countenance  beam- 
ing with  love  and  compassion.  He  is  erect  and  up- 
right, fearless  and  brave." 

A  woman,  sophomore. — "  When  I  think  of  God 
at  all  definitely  I  have  in  mind  the  image  of  a  head, 
with  dark  brown  flowing  hair  and  dark  eyes ;  below 
the  head  the  arms  of  the  image  are  extended.  They 
seem  wrapped  in  soft  gray  folds  rather  like  clouds ; 
the  whole  figure — which  has  no  definite  shape — 
is  draped  in  the  same  stuff  which  extends  far  down 
around  the  earth." 

A  woman,  sophomore,  age  20. — "  The  image 
under  which  I  think  of  God  is  always  confused  in 
my  mind  with  the  image  which  I  have  of  the  Saviour 
.  .  .  but  the  image  of  God  is  always  a  little  the  less 
distinct  of  the  two.  I  think  that  my  image  must 
be  very  much  like  the  reality." 

A  woman,  sophomore,  19. — **  When  God  is  men- 
tioned, I  always  think  of  the  picture  of  a  man  .  .  . 
as  king  with  all  the  insignia  of  royalty.  I  am  not 
sure  as  to  what  is  the  image  and  what  the  reality 
in  this  image." 

A  woman,  senior. — "  God  is  like  flame  ...  I  do 
not  think  that  God  is  flame,  .  .  .  but  flame  is  the 
thing  in  human  experience  that  comes  nearest  to  my 
conception  of  what  God  is." 


THE  STATISTICS  207 

A  woman,  sophomore. — "  The  image  in  which  I 
see  God  most  often  is  a  sphere.  Of  course  this  is 
quite  distinct  from  my  opinion  as  to  the  real  image 
in  which  God  might  appear,  but  the  phrase,  *  God 
is  all  in  all,*  makes  me  always  feel  that  a  sphere  is 
the  only  image  in  which  God  can  appear  in  which 
he  would  fit  this." 

To  ascribe  to  God  the  female  sex  seems  almost  im- 
possible to  one  nurtured  in  a  Christian  country,  yet 
even  that  idea  is  present  in  these  records : — 

A  man. — ''  Sometimes  I  have  pictured  to  myself 
a  sort  of  beautiful  woman  .  .  .  but  the  majority  of 
the  time  I  do  not  think  of  God  under  any  image 
whatever." 

A  woman. — "  I  think  of  God  almost  as  if  he  were 
a  second  greater  mother,  to  whom  I  can  tell  my 
troubles.  ...  He  has  a  certain  vivid,  mother-like 
personality,  yet  I  never  see  him  under  any  definite 
image.    I  feel  him  rather  than  see  him.*' 

The  majority  think  images  serviceable  to  them 
and  wish  to  preserve  them.  A  few,  however,  con- 
sider images  debasing  and  would  like  to  get  rid  of 
them.    Here  are  instances  of  each: — 

A  man,  aged  18. — ''  Although  I  do  not  think  of 
God  as  a  person,  I  find  satisfaction  and  a  sense  of 
reality  in  endowing  him  with  certain  fine  human 
qualities.  ...  I  generally  think  of  God  as  a  great, 
benign,  bright,  splendid  man.' 

A  womayi,  age  18. — ''  It  makes  God  seem  more  real 
and  present  to  think  of  him  as  possessing  human 
form." 


208  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

A  woman.—''  My  first  image  of  God  is  seen 
against  my  will  and  quite  instinctively;  invariably 
the  figure  of  a  white-robed  figure.  I  think  it  is  a 
woman, —  the  expression  of  the  face  is  feminine, — 
with  lacerated  brow  and  hands  and  feet.  I  know 
that  this  image  is  due  to  the  wickedly  distorted 
imagination  of  my  childish  training  in  religion.  It 
is  wrong,  untrue,  degrading.  The  image  which  in 
my  better  moments  I  can  successfully  form  of  God 
is  a  different  thing,  but  so  indefinite  I  can  hardly 
describe  it.'' 

A  man,  age  20. — ''  I  think  of  God  somewhat  as  a 
superhuman  being  —  an  enormous,  majestic  figure. 
His  face  resembles  Michael  Angelo's  Moses,  but  his 
extremities  don't  seem  to  have  any  definite  ending 
like  our  hands  and  feet,  but  seem  just  to  float  off 
into  space  and  as  it  were  to  cover  and  protect  the 
whole  world.  It  really  seems  to  me  to  be  a  bar- 
barian and  somewhat  heathenish  way  of  imagining 
anything  so  great  and  wonderful  as  God." 

One  might  see  in  these  quotations  an  argument 
in  support  of  Rousseau's  contention  that  not  until 
the  "  age  of  reason  "  should  God  be  so  much  as  men- 
tioned to  children. 

IV.     GOD'S  RELATION  TO  MAN 

Believing  in  a  personal  God  does  not  necessarily 
mean  holding  those  relations  with  him  that  consti- 
tute religious  life.  The  belief  may  be  a  mere  echo 
of  tradition  or  a  philosophical  notion.  In  order  to 
find  information  on  the  importance  to  these  students 
of   their   religious   ideas,   one  must  turn  to   their 


THE  STATISTICS  209 

answers  to  the  last  question,  *'  What  difference 
would  the  non-existence  of  God  make  in  your  life?  " 
The  needs  gratified  by  the  belief  in  God  may  be 
classified  under  three  heads:  need  for  explanation, 
for  righteousness,  and  for  affective  support. 

A  philosophical  conviction  of  the  existence  of 
God,  i.  e.,  a  belief  that  gratifies  intellectual  curiosity, 
is  rare  among  these  students.  But  God  is  very  often 
spoken  of  as  the  principle  of  righteousness,  mani- 
festing itself  in  us,  or  as  the  Being  whose  approval 
or  love  makes  it  possible  for  us  to  triumph  over 
temptation  and  gives  us  hope  of  realizing  our  ideals. 
Expressions  like  these  are  common :  — 

"  God  means  everything  to  me  in  moral  strug- 
gles " ;  *'  Morality  alone  would  not  be  sufficient  for 
inspiration  and  guidance  in  daily  life  " ;  '*  Trust  in 
God  keeps  me  from  worrying  and  makes  me  happy 
and  better  " ;  "  God  is  a  constant  support  for  the 
immediate  task  —  without  him  I  could  not  live"; 
"  God  is  the  highest  perfection,  all-knowing,  all- 
wise.  .  .  .  His  non-existence  would  mean  the  non- 
existence of  hope,  of  any  reason  for  preferring  good 
to  evil."  "  If  God  had  not  existed  for  me,  I  should 
have  been  a  law-breaker  and  a  criminal.  Now  if  my 
belief  should  change,  I  might  pass  beyond  control." 

The  need  for  the  love  of  an  always  adequate 
friend  plays  a  very  great  part  in  establishing  belief 
in  God.  The  conviction  that  ''  God  is  love  "  may 
make  unnecessary  any  further  knowledge  of  him.  In 
that  case  he  is  described  as  "  directly  interested  in 
me,"  ''  friend,"  ''  comforter,"  ''  sympathetic  father," 
and  every  other  attribute  seems  forgotten :  — 


210  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

A  woman. —  If  God  did  not  exist,  "  there  would 
be  no  one  ...  to  whom  we  could  go  at  all  times 
for  sympathy  in  joys  and  sorrows." 

A  woman. — *'  If  there  were  no  God  I  should  seek 
more  sympathy  from  my  friends." 

A  man. — "  Some  people  apparently  go  through 
life  without  bothering  about  God.  Some  one  says: 
*  Is  he  necessary  after  all  ?  *  The  answer  is  that 
such  happy-go-lucky  people  know  not  the  needs  of 
human  nature;  their  wills  are  out  of  conformity 
with  the  Logos.  Every  one  who  is  ever  brought  face 
to  face  with  trouble  realizes  man's  need  and  striving 
after  God,  and  almost  to  a  man  these  people  in  mis- 
fortune, I  think,  turn  to  a  personal  God." 

Many  admit  that  the  universe  is  to  them  most 
of  the  time  godless;  now  and  then,  however,  par- 
ticularly in  the  hour  of  need,  a  sudden  kaleidoscopic 
change  takes  place,  and  God  is  felt  hovering  about 
and  filling  the  air  with  his  protecting  and  loving 
presence. 

The  greater  self-reliance  of  the  men  and  their 
greater  independence  from  tradition  is  again  in  evi- 
dence in  the  answers  to  question  four.  Thirty-two 
per  cent,  of  the  men  and  only  seventeen  per  cent, 
of  the  women  declare  that  the  non-existence  of  God 
would  make  no  difference  at  all  in  their  lives.  If 
the  "  doubtful "  cases  are  added  the  proportions 
become  43  per  cent,  for  the  men  and  22  per  cent,  for 
the  women. 

In  estimating  the  significance  of  these  figures  we 
should  remember  that  when  one  is  brought  face  to 
face  suddenly  with  a  question  never  before  consid- 


THE   STATISTICS  211 

ered,  the  natural  tendency  is  to  state  the  traditional 
opinion.  Now,  the  probable  effect  of  the  non-exist- 
ence of  God  had  perhaps  never  before  been  consid- 
ered by  these  students.  One  may,  therefore,  take 
it  that  the  number  of  those  who  ascribe  to  God  a 
great  influence  upon  them  is  larger  than  would  truly 
represent  the  facts.  It  should  also  be  observed  that 
in  several  instances  the  affirmation  of  the  great  im- 
portance of  the  existence  of  God  is  nothing  more 
than  a  logical  deduction  from  the  theoretical  belief 
that  God  is  the  creator  and  the  upholder  of  the  uni- 
verse, and  does  not  involve  necessarily  the  existence 
of  warm  personal  relations  with  him. 

Putting  together  those  who  think  God's  existence 
of  great  importance  to  them,  and  those  who  ascribe 
to  it  a  small,  or  a  merely  occasional  value,  we  get, 
for  the  men,  57  per  cent.  The  others  (43  per  cent.) 
apparently  think  themselves  morally  independent  of 
the  existence  of  God. 

Are  we  to  accept  the  opinion  stated  by  these  per- 
sons as  expressing  correctly  the  value  to  them  of  the 
belief  in  the  existence  of  God?  Obviously  not. 
The  conviction  that  one  could  not  get  along  in  the 
absence  of  certain  material  or  spiritual  possessions, 
is  very  frequently  proved  false  by  later  events.  As 
this  is  not  the  place  to  consider  the  value  to  hu- 
manity, and  in  particular  to  these  students,  of  the 
belief  in  God,  I  shall  remark  merely  that  those  who 
think  their  belief  in  God  essential  have  not  had 
occasion  to  test  their  conviction ;  whereas  those  who 
think  themselves  morally  independent  of  the  belief 
and  who  also  disclaim  the  belief,  i.  e.,  nearly  the 


212  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

whole  of  the  43  per  cent.,  may  be  said  to  have  demon- 
strated their  moral  independence  of  the  belief  in 
God.  In  the  absence  of  satisfactory  proof,  one  need 
not  consider  as  valid  the  opinion  that  the  morality 
of  the  unbelievers  is  derived  from  that  of  the  believ- 
ers. 

The  deepest  impression  left  by  these  records  is 
that,  so  far  as  religion  is  concerned,  our  students 
are  groveling  in  darkness.  Christianity,  as  a  sys- 
tem of  belief,  has  utterly  broken  down,  and  nothing 
definite,  adequate,  and  convincing  has  taken  its 
place.  Their  beliefs,  when  they  have  any,  are  super- 
ficial and  amateurish  in  the  extreme.  There  is  no 
generally  acknowledged  authority ;  each  one  believes 
as  he  can,  and  few  seem  disturbed  at  being  unable 
to  hold  the  tenets  of  the  churches.  This  sense  of 
freedom  is  the  glorious  side  of  an  otherwise  danger- 
ous situation. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

INVESTIGATION  B :    THE  BELIEF  IN  IMMOR- 
TALITY IN  AN  AMERICAN  COLLEGE 

Investigation  A  was  concerned  with  the  belief  in 
a  personal  God  in  nine  American  colleges  and  one 
Normal  School;  investigation  B  deals  exclusively 
with  the  belief  in  immortality  in  one  college  of  high 
rank  and  of  moderate  size,  whose  students  are  di- 
vided in  their  affiliation  among  all  the  important 
Protestant  denominations.  It  includes,  in  addition, 
a  few  Roman  Catholics.  The  spirit  of  this  institu- 
tion is  assuredly  as  religious  as  that  of  the  average 
American  college. 

Ninety  per  cent,  (seniors,  95.8  per  cent;  juniors, 
97.7  per  cent.)  of  all  the  students  answered  a  set 
of  questions  divided  into  three  parts :  the  existence 
of  the  belief,  its  influence  upon  the  individual  life, 
and  the  grounds  upon  which  the  belief  is  held.  How 
this  somewhat  difficult  performance  was  accom- 
plished and  what  care  was  taken  in  order  not  to 
prejudice  the  students,  is  explained  in  a  foot-note.' 

'  The  word  questionnaire  recurs  so  frequently  in  these 
pages  that  I  shall  take  the  liberty  of  replacing  it  by  its  hrst 
letter,  capitalized.  .     . 

If  I  give  only  percentages  and  no  absolute  figure,  it  is 
merely  in  order  to  prevent  the  identification  of  the  college. 

The  Q.  were  distributed  by  students  to  the  rooms  of  all  the 
students  in  residence,  on  a  Sunday  morning,  between  nine 
and  ten  o'clock,  and  were  collected  just  before  lunch  on  the 

213 


214  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

The  most  striking  result  of  this  inquiry  is  the 
high  percentage  of  believers  in  the  lower  classes  and 
the  relatively  high  percentage  of  disbelievers  in  the 
higher  classes  (see  chart  II).  Only  15  per  cent,  of 
the  freshmen  reject  immortality,  and  4  per  cent, 
are  uncertain;  while  nearly  32  per  cent,  of  the 
juniors  have  given  it  up,  and  8  per  cent,  more  are 
uncertain. 


same  day.  A  few  were  handed  in  later  in  the  day,  and  a  few 
others  on  the  next  day.  The  non-residents  received  the  Q. 
on  the  following  day,  i.  e.,  on  Monday  morning,  on  their  ar- 
rival at  the  college.  They  were  requested  to  place  their 
answers  during  the  day  in  a  box  provided  for  the  purpose. 

The  professor  who  conducted  the  investigation  had  an- 
nounced in  several  of  the  largest  classes  that  all  the  students 
of  the  college  would  be  asked  on  Sunday  morning  to  answer 
a  set  of  questions,  but  the  subject  of  the  investigation  was 
not  disclosed.  It  was  explained  that  they  were  held  in  igno- 
rance in  order  to  prevent  discussion  in  advance.  The  great 
desirability  of  having  every  one  answer  in  order  to  make  the 
information  gathered  valuable  for  statistical  purposes  was 
emphasized,  and  the  directions  printed  at  the  head  of  the  Q. 
were  read  to  them  without  comment.  The  students  present 
in  each  class  visited  were  requested  to  pass  on  to  the  others 
the  information  they  had  just  received. 

When  it  was  found  that  a  considerable  number  of  fresh- 
men and  sophomores  had  failed  to  answer,  an  effort  was 
made  to  complete  the  statistics  from  these  two  classes.  Stu- 
dents of  the  upper  classes  interviewed  the  freshmen  and  the 
sophomores  and  placed  the  Q.  directly  or  indirectly,  in  the 
hands  of  those  who  had  not  answered.  It  was  ascertained 
that  most  of  these  were  absent  from  college  when  the  ques- 
tions were  first  circulated.  A  few  explained  that  they  had 
not  answered  because  they  were  too  uncertain  of  their  beliefs. 
One  said,  "  I  know  nothing  at  all  about  it,"  and  another,  "  I 
did  not  want  to  be  bothered  with  these  questions.  No  evi- 
dence could  be  obtained  tending  to  show  that  students  who 
entertained  definite  opinions  had  refused  to  answer.  Ar- 
rangements were  made  for  the  collection  of  the  tardy  an- 
swers in  a  manner  to  preserve  the  students'  incognito. 
Among  the  students  of  the  two  lower  classes  who  responded 
to  the  second  call,  the  proportion  of  disbelievers  is  slightly 
larger  than  in  the  others.  In  table  III  all  the  answers  are 
included. 


THE  STATISTICS 


215 


CHART  II 


JUNfORS 


5EN/0R6 


BELIEF  IN   IMMORTALITY 

FRESHMEN         60PH0M0RE6 


I       I  BELIEVERS 


DI5BELIEVER3 


DOUBTERS 


The  seniors  (24  per  cent,  of  disbelievers  and  6 
per  cent,  of  uncertain)  stand  nearer  the  lower 
classes  than  the  juniors.  It  will  probably  be  sup- 
posed that  this  fact  indicates  a  return  to  a  "  saner  " 
view  after  a  brief  iconoclastic  period;  i.  e.,  the 
greater  unbelief  of  the  juniors  will  be  taken  to  mark 
the  effect  of  a  little  knowledge,  and  the  greater  belief 
of  the  seniors,  the  reaction  that  has  set  in  with  in- 
creased maturity.  I  cannot  accept  that  interpre- 
tation. When  the  results  were  announced  several 
students,  including  both  seniors  and  juniors,  offered 
in  explanation  of  the  fact  mentioned  the  acknowl- 
edged, exceptional  independence  and  "  intellectual 
superiority  of  the  junior  class."  The  professors  I 
interviewed  concurred  in  this  judgment.  Further- 
more, Investigation  C  provides  incontrovertible  evi- 


216  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

dence  of  a  decrease  of  belief  corresponding  to  an 
increase  of  general  mental  ability  and,  perhaps,  of 
knowledge. 

Not  only  do  the  younger  students  believe  more 
generally,  but  nearly  all  the  believers  accept  the 
doctrine  of  unconditional  immortality.  In  so  far 
as  that  is  the  traditional  Christian  belief,  this  result 
should  have  been  expected  of  persons  v^ho  unthink- 
ingly reflect  prevalent  opinions.  We  may  note  that 
the  junior  class  again  distinguishes  itself  by  a  rela- 
tively high  proportion  of  believers  in  conditional  im- 
mortality (13  per  cent,  as  against  4  per  cent,  for 
the  freshmen) .  The  seniors  are  also  in  this  respect 
nearer  the  lower  classes  than  the  juniors. 

The  effect  of  the  loss  of  belief,  as  estimated  by 
these  students,  changes  little  as  one  passes  from 
Freshman  to  Senior.  The  great  majority  think  it 
would  be  considerable.  Whatever  change  there  is, 
is  in  the  direction  of  a  decrease  in  the  estimated 
effect.  If  there  is  anything  clearly  disclosed  by 
the  study  of  the  origin  and  of  the  grounds  for  the 
modern  belief  in  immortality,  it  is  that  the  strongest 
factor  of  belief  is  the  conviction  that  without  con- 
tinuation after  death,  this  life  would  be  morally  in- 
acceptable.  Now,  the  statistics  reveal  the  interest- 
ing fact  that  a  considerable  number  of  believers  do 
not  think  the  loss  would  have  any  influence  upon 
their  lives;  immortality  is  for  them  a  fact  without 
vital  significance.  May  we  not  then  conclude  that 
those  who  believe  either  in  conditional  or  in  uncon- 
ditional immortality  and  who,  at  the  same  time,  de- 
clare that  the  loss  of  the  belief  would  leave  them  uiv 


THE  STATISTICS  217 

concerned,  are  on  the  point  of  discarding  that  belief? 
It  is  noteworthy  that  almost  25  per  cent,  of  those 
who  cannot  declare  a  belief  in  immortality,  never- 
theless desire  it ;  and  that  of  these,  four-fifths  belong 
to  the  two  upper  classes  of  the  college.  Since  a 
considerable  number  desire  immortality,  though  they 
do  not  believe,  a  decrease  or  a  loss  of  desire  may  not 
be  made  responsible  for  the  decrease  in  the  number 
of  believers.  The  increase  in  unbelief  observed  as 
one  passes  from  the  younger  to  the  older  classes, 
indicates  rather  the  growing  recognition  of  the  in- 
sufficiency of  the  foundation  upon  which  the  belief 
stands. 

Fifty-one  per  cent,  of  the  freshmen,  and  forty- 
nine  per  cent,  of  the  sophomores,  declare  that  they 
have  never  assigned  any  reason  for  their  belief  in 
immortality.  That  the  younger  students  should 
have  failed  more  frequently  than  the  older  ones  to 
concern  themselves  with  the  reasons  for  their  belief, 
is  not  surprising;  but  that  as  many  as  45  per  cent. 
of  the  believing  juniors  and  40  per  cent,  of  the  be- 
lieving seniors  should  be  in  that  naive  situation, 
may  well  cause  some  astonishment.  These  figures 
would  refute  the  accusation  that  some  might  be 
inclined  to  direct  against  colleges  for  indoctrinating 
their  students.  They  indicate  rather  how  distress- 
ingly uninterested  and  ignorant  these  "  cultivated  '* 
young  people  are  regarding  what  is  commonly  con- 
sidered a  great  religious  issue.  The  preceding  sec- 
tion has  shown  that  they  are  equally  naive  with 
regard  to  the  conception  of  God, 


218  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

Very  little  significance  may  be  attached  to  the 
figures  referring  to  the  arguments  "  supporting  " 
or  "  establishing  "  the  belief.  I  shall  merely  note 
that  four  times  out  of  five,  they  are  said  to  **  sup- 
port/* not  to  "  establish,"  the  belief,  and  that  they 
are  in  general  agreem.ent  with  the  statement  made 
in  the  first  part  of  this  book:  the  belief  of  these 
students  —  when  it  has  any  conscious  basis  —  rests 
preponderantly  upon  moral  arguments  and  upon 
faith  in  a  personal  God.' 

We  should  hardly  have  expected  to  find  35  per 
cent,  of  the  juniors  and  seniors  in  a  Christian  col- 
lege unable  to  profess  belief  in  immortality,  and  a 
considerable  additional  number  evidently  indifferent 
to  it. 

The  knowledge  we  have  gained  as  to  the  loss  of 
belief  suffered  by  students  leaves  unanswerea  the 
momentous  question  of  the  later  development  of 
their  religious  convictions.  If  we  cannot  now  dis- 
cover the  beliefs  these  young  people  will  entertain 
twenty  years  hence,  we  can  at  least  find  out  those  of 
the  men  and  women  who  preceded  them  in  college 
and  are  now  pursuing  professional  careers.  This  we 
shall  do  in  the  next  chapter. 


*  The  first  argument  was  named  71  times;  the  second,  43 
times;  the  third,  168  times;  the  fourth,  112  times;  the  fifth, 
180  times;  the  sixth,  170  times;  the  seventh,  70  times;  the 
eighth,  88  times. 

Several  students  completed  the  list  of  arguments  they  found 
in  the  Q.  by  adding  the  resurrection  of  Christ.  My  intention 
was  not  to  include  every  possible  ground  of  belief,  but  to 
seek  information  upon  the  influence  of  certain  of  them.  Had 
the  resurrection  of  Christ  been  on  the  list,  a  large  proportion 
of  the  students  would  have  doubtless  marked  it. 


CHAPTER  IX 

INVESTIGATION  C :  THE  BELIEF  IN  GOD  AND 
IN  IMMORTALITY    AMONG    AMERICAN 
SCIENTISTS,  SOCIOLOGISTS,  HISTO- 
RIANS   AND    PSYCHOLOGISTS. 

In  this  investigation,  I  was  able  to  make  use  of 
American  Men  of  Science,  a  volume  containing  about 
fifty-five  hundred  names,  and  of  the  membership 
lists  of  the  American  Historical  Association,  the 
American  Sociological  Society,  and  the  American 
Psychological  Association.  Any  one  familiar  with 
these  lists  will  know  that  their  standard  of  inclusion 
is  rather  too  low  than  too  high ;  it  would  be  easy  to 
single  out  from  the  membership  of  the  American 
Psychological  Association  many  persons  who  could 
hardly  be  offended  if  denied  the  right  to  be  called 
psychologists.  I  say  this  in  order  that  it  may  not 
be  imagined  that  this  inquiry  deals  only  with  men 
of  very  high  achievements. 

A  study  of  statistics  shows  that  a  relatively  small 
number  of  the  members  of  a  group  suffices  to  repre- 
sent with  a  high  degree  of  exactness  the  whole 
group,  provided  the  selection  made  be  a  chance  se- 
lection. The  probable  error  resulting  from  such 
limitation  is,  moreover,  mathematically  ascertain- 
able. I  have  been  assured  by  statisticians  that  re- 
sults based  on  the  whole  list  of  fifty-five  hundred 
men  of  science  and  results  based  on  five  hundred, 

219 


220  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

would  be  to  all  intents  and  purposes  the  same.  I 
shall  not  weary  the  reader  with  a  mathematical  de- 
monstration of  the  truth  of  this  statement.  A  practi- 
cal demonstration  will,  I  am  sure,  advantageously 
replace  it.  Such  a  proof  might  be  attempted  by  car- 
rying out  two  separate,  but  otherwise  identical  in- 
vestigations, each  involving  five  hundred  persons 
taken  by  a  rule  of  chance  from  the  volume  named. 
Should  their  conclusions  coincide,  they  could  be  held 
to  be  valid  also  for  the  entire  fifty-five  hundred  men 
listed  in  American  Men  of  Science,  This  is  precisely 
the  procedure  I  followed,  i.  e.,  I  carried  out  sepa- 
rately two  identical  investigations,  each  including 
500  scientists.  In  every  one  of  the  other  groups  my 
investigation  included  a  larger  proportion  of  the 
whole  than  in  the  case  of  the  scientists. 

The  chief  difl^culty  in  the  way  of  a  statistical  inves- 
tigation such  as  the  present  one,  is  that  not  all  those 
addressed  answer.  This  may  introduce  a  type  of 
selection  that  vitiates  results.  In  order  to  minimize 
as  much  as  possible  this  cause  of  error,  I  formulated 
possible  beliefs,  and  requested  the  recipients  of  the 
Q.  to  mark  with  a  cross  all  those  that  were  true  for 
them,  and  I  inclosed  addressed  and  stamped  enve- 
lopes. A  minimum  of  time  and  thought  for  answer- 
ing was  thus  required.  This  procedure  had  the  addi- 
tional advantage  of  getting  the  answers  in  the  same 
forms. 

It  was  not  an  easy  task  to  formulate  satisfactorily 
for  all  those  to  whom  the  Q.  was  to  be  sent,  the  par- 
ticular beliefs  on  which  I  wished  the  investigation 


THE  STATISTICS  221 

to  bear.  Expressions  in  common  use  were  to  be  pre- 
ferred to  philosophical  and  theological  terms,  for 
these  would  not  always  have  been  understood  or  con- 
strued in  a  uniform  sense.  As  I  was  not  concerned 
with  fine  points  in  the  conception  of  God,  it  was  not 
necessary  to  frame  the  statements  so  as  to  satisfy 
the  technical  philosopher  accustomed  to  consider  a 
tangle  of  problems  where  the  ordinary  man  —  and 
in  this  respect,  our  scientists  are  ordinary  —  sees 
but  a  relatively  simple  question.  The  adequacy  of 
the  Q.  for  men  of  science,  if  not  for  philosophers, 
will,  I  think,  be  admitted  when  the  use  I  intended  to 
make  of  the  answers  is  fully  known. 

Despite  the  measures  taken  to  facilitate  the  task 
of  those  addressed,  it  proved  necessary  to  send  out  a 
second  pressing  request,  again  with  addressed  and 
stamped  envelope.    This  was  done  not  only  for  the 
1000  men  of  science,  but  also  for  every  other  group. 
The  time  elapsed  between  sending  out  the  first  and 
second  requests  was  not  the  same  for  each  group. 
When  answers  had  practically  ceased  to  come  in,  the 
second  request  was  dispatched.     All  answers  re- 
ceived later  than  one  day  after  mailing  the  second 
request,  were  counted  as  answers  to  it,  although  a 
few  of  these  were  no  doubt  belated  responses  to  the 
first  request.    As  I  had  not  requested  signatures,  I 
had  to  address  again  every  person  included  in  the 
investigation,  except  those  who  had  chosen  to  give 
their  names. 

Friends  told  me  that  I  should  not  succeed,  and 
they  advanced  various  reasons.  Most  of  their  pre- 
dictions remained  unrealized.     A  number  of  those 


222  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

addressed  did  indeed  refuse  to  answer,  and  a  few 
made  derogatory  comments;  but  on  the  whole,  the 
members  of  every  group  found  it  possible  to  answer 
to  their  own  satisfaction  —  the  philosophers  ex- 
cepted. I  shall  mention  later  the  special  difficulties 
encountered  in  the  attempt  to  extend  the  investiga- 
tion to  philosophers. 

The  many  remarks  written  in  the  margin  of  the 
returned  Q.  and  the  letters  of  those  who  would  not, 
could  not,  or  thought  they  could  not  answer,  have 
frequently  a  real  psychological  interest.  I  shall  take 
occasion  when  discussing  the  causes  of  failure  to 
answer,  to  quote  some  of  these  utterances.  They 
will  throw  much  light  on  the  reception  accorded  to 
the  Q. 

The  Questionnaires  sent  to  the  two  groups  of  five 
hundred  scientists  follow.  A  slightly  different  set 
of  questions  was  sent  to  the  second  five  hundred  and 
to  the  other  groups.  These  changes  are  commented 
upon  below. 

A  STATISTICAL  INQUIRY 

{First  Form) 

Conflicting  statements  are  confidently  made  re- 
garding the  prevalence  among  civilized  Christian 
nations  of  the  belief  in  God  and  Personal  Immortal- 
ity. Nevertheless  sufficient  data  are  not  extant  to 
support  any  opinion. 

The  accompanying  questions  are  sent  to  500  per- 
sons taken  by  chance  from  those  listed  in  American 
Men  of  Science,  in  the  hope  of  securing  statistics 


THE  STATISTICS  223 

valid  for  this  whole  group.  The  condition  of  success 
is  that  all  those  addressed  respond.  No  satisfac- 
torily definite  conclusions  could  be  drawn  if  many  of 
those  addressed  refused  or  neglected  to  answer. 

It  will  take  you  only  a  few  seconds  to  make  a  mark 
to  the  right  of  every  statement  true  for  you.  Please 
do  it,  if  at  all  possible,  on  receipt  of  this  paper  and 
return  it  in  the  inclosed  stamped  envelope.  Your 
answer  may  be  anonymous. 

A.      CONCERNING   THE   BELIEF  IN   GOD. 

1.  I  believe  in  a  God  in  intellectual  and  affective 

communication  with  man,  I  mean  a  God  to 
whom  one  may  pray  in  the  expectation  of  re- 
ceiving an  answer.  By  ''  answer,"  I  do  not  mean 
the  subjective,  psychological  effect  of  prayer. 

2.  I  do  not  believe  in  a  God  as  defined  above 

3.  I  am  an  agnostic 

B.      CONCERNING    THE    BELIEF    IN    PERSONAL    IMMOR- 
TALITY. 

personal  I.  for  all  men 

[conditional  I,  i.  e.,  for  those  who 

1.  I  believe  m    J  ^^^^^  reached  a  certain  state  of  de- 

,  velopment. 

2.  I  believe  neither  in  conditional  nor  in  uncondi- 

tional I.  of  the  person 

3.  I  am  an  agnostic 

4.  Although  I  cannot  believe  in  P.  I., 

[-intensely 

I  desire  it ^moderately.  . . 

5.  I  do  not  desire  P.I 


224  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

(Second  Form.) 

A.  CONCERNING  THE  BELIEF  IN  GOD. 

1.  I  believe  in  a  God  to  whom  one  may  pray  in  the 

expectation  of  receiving  an  answer.  By 
"  a^iswer,"  I  mean  more  than  the  subjective, 
psychological  effect  of  prayer 

2.  I  do  not  believe  in  a  God  as  defined  above 

3.  I  have  no  definite  belief  regarding  this  question. . 

B.  CONCERNING   THE    BELIEF    IN    PERSONAL    IMMOR- 

TALITY, I.  E.,  THE  BELIEF  IN  CONTINUATION 
OF  THE  PERSON  AFTER  DEATH  IN  ANOTHER 
WORLD. 


1.  I  believe  in 


personal  Immortality  for  all  men . . . 

conditional  Immortality,  i.  e.,  Im- 
mortality for  those  who  have 
reached  a  certain  state  of  develop- 
ment. 

2.  I  believe  neither  in  conditional  nor  in  uncondi- 

tional  Immortality  of  the  person  in  another 
world 

3.  I  have  no  definite  belief  regarding  this  question .  . 

'intensely 

4.  I  desire  personal  immortality]  moderately 

not  at  all 


REMARKS  UPON  THE  CHANGES  MADE  IN  THE  SECOND 
FORM  OF  THE  Q. : — 

1.  I  thought  it  advisable  to  leave  out  the  words 
"  in  intellectual  and  affective  communication  with 
man  '*  which  appears  in  A  1  of  the  Q.  sent  to  the 


THE  STATISTICS  225 

first  division  of  500  scientists.  The  meaning  is  suffi- 
ciently indicated  in  the  rest  of  the  sentence.  By  sub- 
stituting in  the  same  statement  *'  I  mean  more  than," 
for  *'  I  do  not  mean,"  the  intended  meaning  be- 
comes clearer  and  the  sense  is  not  changed. 

2.  Instead  of  *'  I  am  an  agnostic,"  I  wrote  in  the 
revised  Q.,  both  in  sections  A  and  B,  ''  I  have  no  defi- 
nite belief  regarding  this  question."  The  meaning 
ascribed  by  my  correspondents  to  these  two  formu- 
lations will  be  discussed  later. 

3.  The  heading  of  section  B  was  extended  in  the 
second  form  by  the  addition  of  ''  i.  e.,  the  belief  in 
continuation  of  the  person  after  death  in  another 
world."  This  addition  excludes  cases  of  belief  in 
transmigration  at  death  in  animal  or  human  forms 
living  on  the  earth.  Few  answers  if  any  could  have 
been  affected  by  the  change.  A  similar  addition 
was  made  to  statement  B  2. 

4.  In  the  first  Q.,  the  questions  regarding  desire 
for  immortality  are  addressed  only  to  those  who  do 
not  believe;  in  the  second  Q.,  they  are  addressed  to 
all  alike :  believers,  disbelievers,  and  doubters.  The 
answers  made  to  B  4  by  the  first  division  are  there- 
fore not  comparable  with  those  made  to  B  4  by  the 
second  division. 

I.  THE  CAUSES  OF  THE  FAILURE  TO  ANSWER 

AND  THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  THE 

QUESTIONNAIRE 

As  the  attitude  assumed  towards  the  Q.,  and 
the  reasons  for  abstaining  from  answering  were  on 
the  whole  the  same  in  every  group,  I  shall  discuss 
these  matters  now,  once  for  all,  and  with  especial 


226  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

reference  to  the  men  of  science.  In  the  few  in- 
stances in  which  the  figures  and  the  extracts  from 
letters  belong  to  other  groups,  I  shall  indicate  their 
origin. 

The  reader  will  find  it  necessary  to  remember  that 
in  the  Questionnaire  all  the  statements  under  A  refer 
to  God,  and  those  under  B  to  immortality.  A  1  is 
a  statement  of  belief  in  a  personal  God ;  A  2  one  of 
disbelief  in  that  God;  A  3  one  of  agnosticism  or 
doubtfulness.  Similarly,  B  1  is  a  statement  of  be- 
lief in  personal  immortality,  either  unconditional  or 
conditional ;  B  2  one  of  disbelief ;  B  3  one  of  agnos- 
ticism or  doubtfulness. 

A.      THE   FAILURE   TO   RETURN   OR  TO   MARK   THE 
QUESTIONNAIRE 

Almost  one  quarter  of  those  addressed  either 
returned  a  blank  Q.  or  did  not  return  it  at  all. 
This  is  a  considerable  percentage,  and  were  we  alto- 
gether in  the  dark  as  to  their  cause,  these  failures 
would  lower  considerably  the  value  of  the  statis- 
tics. But,  thanks  to  the  remarks  of  many  who  re- 
fused to  answer,  and  also  to  certain  other  data,  we 
are  able  to  disregard  some  of  these  blanks  or  failures 
to  answer  as  not  affecting  the  investigation,  and  to 
classify  at  least  approximately  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  the  remainder. 

Those  who  did  not  return  the  Q.  amount  to  not 
quite  10  per  cent. ;  of  these,  an  indeterminable 
number  may  be  put  down  as  dead,  or  critically  ill, 
or  absent.  The  failure  of  these  to  answer  may  be 
considered  as  not  affecting  the  statistics,  since  there 


THE  STATISTICS  227 

is  no  reason  to  think  that  the  dead,  the  critically 
ill,  and  the  absent  belong  entirely  or  predominantly 
to  a  particular  class  of  believers. 

Turning  to  the  14.7  per  cent,  whose  Q.  were  re- 
turned blank,  we  observe  first  that  these  are  not  all 
to  be  regarded  as  expressions  of  unwillingness  to 
answer.  Altogether  22  of  these  were  reported  as 
dead,  and  26  as  not  found,  away,  or  ill.  The  failure 
of  these  to  answer  leaves  the  investigation  un- 
affected. There  remain  99  of  the  blank  Q.,  that 
is  about  10  per  cent,  of  the  total  number  sent  out. 
A  large  number  of  these  fall  into  more  or  less  exact- 
ly defined  categories,  which  I  shall  now  characterize 
and  illustrate. 

There  are  many  people  who  do  not  know  what 
you  mean  unless  you  speak  in  terms  of  weight  and 
measure.  How  must  the  devout  believer  who  "  lives 
with  God  "  be  startled  when  he  encounters  fellow- 
men  like  some  of  my  correspondents.  Two  greater 
scientists  wrote,  for  instance: — 

"  I  cannot  answer  these  questions.  I  do  not  know 
what  they  mean.  I  have  no  interest  in  them,  and 
can  hardly  conceive  of  any  one  wishing  to  know." 

"  I  have  not  the  slightest  desire  to  answer  these 
questions,  either  to  myself  or  to  any  other  person." 

One  person  jeered  at  me  for  expecting  "  scientific 
men  "  to  answ^er  questions  *'  not  accessible  to  proof," 
questions  that  are  *'  not  matters  of  knowledge."  I 
gaped  in  amazement  on  reading  the  two  following 
stout  pronouncements : — 

**  As  a  scientist  my  entire  attention  is  directed  to 


228  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

matters  accessible  to  proof.     Neither  of  your  ques- 
tions belong  to  this  category." 

"  How  is  it  possible  for  a  sane  student  to  answer 
these  questions?  They  do  not  deal  with  phenomena 
or  material  which  we  can  investigate.  I  believe  in 
everything  that  is." 

Well,  after  all,  beliefs,  disbeliefs,  and  doubts  exist, 
they  are  real;  and  they  come  into  existence  without 
cause  no  more  than  physical  phenomena.  Therefore, 
seeing  that  religious  beliefs  move  men  to  actions  of 
vast  consequence,  let  the  psychologist  continue  to 
busy  himself  with  them.  I  have  fair  hopes  that  some 
of  these  narrow  minded  scientists  may  be  brought  to 
see,  perhaps  by  means  of  this  investigation,  that 
there  is  another  real  world  open  to  scientific  study 
beside  the  one  they  acknowledge;  and  that  in  fact 
they  themselves,  as  well  as  everybody  else,  live  in 
that  world. 

A  certain  number  did  not  answer  because  they 
were  too  completely  '*  at  sea."  **  My  views  are  too 
vague  to  be  of  any  value,"  says  one  of  these.  Anoth- 
ei^  excuses  himself  on  the  ground  that  he  "  has  not 
investigated  the  subject."  Another  who  has  given 
long  hours  to  considering  these  problems,  states  that 
his  opinions  "  are  too  indefinite  to  justify  their  pre- 
sentation in  the  categorical  form  inquired  after."  It 
would  seem  that  the  person  who  ''  neither  believes 
nor  disbelieves,"  but  rejoices  **  in  a  suspended  judg- 
ment," would  be  in  a  position  to  mark  A  3  and  B  3. 
He  did  not  do  so,  however.  ''  I  have  my  doubts," 
writes  one  who  also  prefers  not  to  mark  A  3  and  B  3, 
"  about  many  of  these  things,  and  believe  that  hyp- 


THE  STATISTICS  229 

notism  and  superstition  are  the  basis  of  much  we  be- 
lieve." 

Why  did  not  the  person  who  declares  himself  a 
member  of  the  Christian  church  and  answers  that  he 
''  tries  to  live  up  to  its  teachings/'  mark  the  Q.  ? 
Are  we  to  infer  that  he  does  not  accept  the  dogma  of 
his  church,  and  merely  endeavors  to  live  up  to  its 
practical  teaching? 

What  a  sorry  figure  this  man  cuts : — 

"  I  am  a  Presbyterian  by  heredity  and  by  profes- 
sion. I  have  no  wish  to  be  considered  ambiguous  or 
a  hypocrite ;  neither  have  I  any  wish  to  leave  the  be- 
liefs of  my  fathers.  I  wish  my  faith  could  be  as 
simple  as  that  of  some  of  my  relatives  who  are  now 
dead.  If  I  had  children  I  would  have  a  responsibili- 
ty that  fortunately  I  do  not  now  carry.  I  must  admit 
there  are  many  things  that  I  cannot  accept  as 
proven." 

The  opposition  between  feeling  or  belief  and 
knowledge  appears  frequently  as  a  source  of  diffi- 
culty in  marking  the  Q.    An  historian  writes : — 

''  I  have  found  it  impossible  to  decide  how  far  the 
beliefs  as  stated  were  the  result  of  my  own  definite, 
intellectual  conclusions  based  on  a  fair  amount  of  in- 
vestigation, and  how  far  they  were  affected  by  a 
very  conscious  aversion  to  breaking  with  my  ances- 
tral past.  We  are  doubtless  all  conscious  of  wide  di- 
vergence in  belief  from  the  beliefs  held  by  oui^  par- 
ents. Yet  I  personally  hesitate  to  commit  myself 
irrevocably  on  paper  to  a  statement  to  this  effect." 

This  person  is  certainly  right  in  conjecturing  that 
her  hesitancy  to  break  with  the  past  is  somewhat 


230  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

widely  shared.  The  result  is,  of  course,  to  swell  the 
number  of  believers  by  the  addition  of  many  who  are 
not  really  convinced. 

An  unusually  subtle  and  complex  attitude,  involv- 
ing more  than  the  opposition  of  belief  and  knowl- 
edge, is  revealed  in  this  very  interesting  letter  of  a 
psychologist.  I  do  not  know  what  part  in  it  should 
be  ascribed  to  downright  aboulia,  and  what  to  a  legit- 
imate unwillingness  to  forego  the  least  particle  of 
freedom  by  pinning  oneself  down  to  a  formulated  be- 
lief. 

"  I  owe  you  an  apology  for  not  answering  your 
questions  before  this.  ...  I  seem  to  find  no  question 
to  which  I  should  care  to  give  a  categorical  answer. 
Will  you  let  me  say,  however,  that  the  questions 
seem  to  me  to  trench  upon  an  area  which  I  find  in  a 
state  of  flux  a  considerable  part  of  the  time?  They 
refer  to  what  in  my  own  case  I  seem  to  regard  as  a 
protean  element  of  consciousness,  which  like  water 
is  now  fluid,  now  a  crystallized  solid,  and  now  an  im- 
perceptible vapor.  This  element  of  consciousness,  I 
somehow  feel  it  is  important  not  to  reduce  to  cate- 
gories, not  even  to  that  of  indefiniteness  or  to  that 
of  mysticism.  .  .  . 

*'  In  these  days  of  the  new  ecclesiasticism,  the  ec- 
clesiasticism  of  science,  when  the  so-called  applica- 
tions of  science  are  actively  engaged  in  formulating, 
fixing,  mechanizing,  institutionalizing,  and  stand- 
ardizing, I  feel,  though  perhaps  at  the  risk,  in  this 
instance,  of  totally  misunderstanding  the  purpose  of 
a  serious  piece  of  scientific  research,  that  one  may 
silently  persist  in  trying  to  live,  part  of  the  time  at 


THE  STATISTICS  231 

least,  in  or  with  the  fluid  medium  of  shifting  belief — 
now  melting  and  evanishing  quite,  now  precipitating 
afresh,  now  firm  as  a  rock  on  which  to  stand — of 
the  unsettled  and  problematic  character  of  which  be- 
lief science  has  made  us  all  the  more  certain,  while 
helping  to  free  us  from  bondage  to  externals." 

I  sent  the  writer  questions  in  another  form,  hop- 
ing that  now  at  least  he  would  be  able  to  answer. 
I  got  in  reply  this  letter : 

"  I  find  it  quite  disconcerting  to  seem  to  be  so  dis- 
obliging as  still  not  to  answer  your  Statistical  In- 
quiry. I  have  tried  to  give  what  I  could  of  my  rea- 
sons for  my  reluctance  in  my  previous  letter.  I  am 
not  sure  that  I  can  completely  oif  accurately  account 
for  this  reluctance.  Very  likely  I  cannot  account 
for  it.  I  regret  it  none  the  less,  for  I  would  gladly 
cooperate  with  you  in  your  investigation ;  but  I  seem 
to  be  profoundly  inhibited  for  some  reason,  or  lack 
of  reason." 

I  should  have  been  surprised  and  sorry  to  find 
among  scientists  many  instances  of  refusal  to  answer 
because  of  the  '*  privacy  "  (signatures  were  not  asked 
for)  or  the  "  sacredness  "  of  religious  beliefs.  Only 
six,  perhaps,  belong  to  the  suspicious  class  of  those 
who  try  to  persuade  themselves  and  others  that  mat- 
ters of  faith  are  too  sacred  to  be  recorded  for  a  sci- 
entific purpose : — 

"  I  feel  that  these  matters  are  of  a  personal  and 
private  nature,  and  ...  I  do  not  care  to  express 
myself." 

"  Those  are  matters  of  individual  concern  only  and 


232  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

a  statistical  study  of  them  is  unnecessary  and  use- 
less." 

I  shall  venture  to  think  that  the  weightier  reason 
for  the  dislike  displayed  by  these  ''scientists  "  for 
research  in  religious  life,  is  often  that  given  in 
the  second  clause  of  the  following  sentence  which  I 
italicize :  '*  Those  questions  are  of  too  personal  a 
nature  to  permit  of  public  expression — even  were  it 
possible  for  me  to  express  or  formulate  my  belief." 

Several  are  convinced  that  the  beliefs  in  question 
are  not  matters  of  knowledge,  but  of  faith,  or  of 
''  spirit,"  and  therefore  they  prefer  not  to  answer : — 

"  Ideas  of  a  God  are  to  me  not  matters  of  scientific 
knowledge  but  of  faith ;  and  a  scientific  examination 
of  faith  does  no  especial  good,  I  therefore  prefer 
not  to  answer." 

Again,  in  cases  of  this  last  sort,  one  cannot  escape 
the  suspicion  that  the  excuse  given  covers  some 
other,  more  real  impediment.  Why  should  faith  in  a 
personal  God  and  in  personal  immortality  prevent 
one  from  stating  that  faith?  Have  these  believers 
forgotten  the  noble  and  brave  example  of  prophets 
and  apostles  who  proclaimed  their  faith  even  in  the 
face  of  an  angry  world?  I  suspect  that  had  these 
persons  possessed  a  real  and  lucid  belief,  they  would 
have  responded  to  my  provocative  questions  with  the 
quickness  of  powder  to  the  match.  They  would  have 
burst  out  in  exclamatory  sentences  as  others  of  my 
correspondents  did: — 

"  Of  course,  every  Christian  does." 

"  I  have  positive  knowledge  of  God  by  actual  ex- 
perience." 


THE  STATISTICS  233 

"  I  not  only  believe  firmly  in  a  personal  God,  but 
feel  certain  of  his  existence.'* 

Closely  related  to  those  who  will  not  debase 
"  faith  "  and  "  things  of  the  spirit "  by  utterance,  is 
the  position  of  one  who  informs  me  briefly  that  she 
will  not  analyze  her  religious  feelings.  Why  not? 
Probably  because  of  a  fear  that  clear-eyed  contem- 
plation might  entail  an  irreparable  loss.  A  sociolo- 
gist confesses  that  he  *'  almost  fears  to  reason " 
about  these  topics.  When  he  attempts  it,  he  "  can- 
not reach  the  conclusion  that  a  personal  God  watch- 
ing over  us  all  and  ready  to  listen  to  and  grant  our 
petitions  exists  " ;  but  "  in  moments  of  exaltation  or 
of  sorrow  one  does  not  reason  about  God,  but  in- 
stinctively gives  thanks  or  prays  for  help  and  com- 
fort.'' If  this  shifting  attitude  is  rare  among  men 
of  trained  minds,  it  is  not  infrequent  in  others.  I 
have  had  occasion  elsewhere  to  comment  upon  the 
effect  of  feeling  and  emotion  in  bringing  to  the  fore 
old  attitudes  and  beliefs.  When  thinking  is  inhib- 
ited, the  instinctive,  the  habitual,  the  traditional  get 
the  upper  hand. 

Pragmatic  principles,  in  absolute  contempt  of  ob- 
jective truth,  are  expressed  in  several  communica- 
tions. I  suppose  that  perfect  worldly  wisdom  con- 
sists in  believing  in  God  w^hen  advantageous,  and  in 
disbelieving  in  him  w^hen  belief  is  disadvantageous. 
Some  of  my  correspondents  have  attained  to  this 
perfection.  Here  are  the  more  striking  instances  of 
this  attitude ;  they  refer  to  the  belief  in  God : — 

"  Sometimes,  yes ;  sometimes,  no,  according  to  my 
temporary  needs." 


234  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

''  Philosophical  discussion  of  religious  matters 
often  affords  opportunities  for  intellectual  athletics 
and  mental  relaxation,  but  there  is  comfort  in  the  be- 
lief of  the  existence  of  an  Almighty  without  any  con- 
sideration as  to  the  details  of  such  a  belief.  .  .  . 
Such  beliefs  do  not  and  should  not  interfere  with  the 
efficiency  of  man,  or  prevent  his  working  out  his 
own  salvation  in  worldly  matters." 

"  Strong  belief,  and  absolutely  no  knowledge,"  is 
admitted  by  a  good  many,  particularly  with  refer- 
ence to  immortality.  A  sociologist,  for  instance, 
who  unlike  the  preceding  marked  both  A  1  and  B  1, 
writes,  **  I  have  no  scientific  reasons  to  back  my  be- 
lief.   I  believe  in  immortality  because  I  like  it." 

But  those  who,  despite  absence  of  all  knowledge, 
behave  as  if  they  believed,  are  not  all  so  outspoken. 
Sometimes  a  tone  of  helplessness  and  even  of  shame 
creeps  into  the  confession: — 

''  I  certainly  do  not  believe  in  a  God  defined  as 
above,  and  yet  I  use  him  sometimes  as  though  I  did 
— as  though  it  were  a  useful  custom  left  over  from 
childhood."     (The  writer  marked  A  2  and  B  2.) 

"  Do  I  believe  in  a  personal  God  and  immortality? 
If  you  mean  completely  and  always,  certainly  not. 
Practically,  I  sometimes  act  as  if  I  believed.  There 
is  often  definite  prayer  but  no  sense  of  warmth  or 
close  contact."     (From  a  psychologist.) 

A  sociologist  who  answers  A  2,  "  Intellectually, 
no,"  makes  the  following  marginal  note :  "  In  crises 
a  traditional  belief  recently  appeared  which  aston- 
ished me.  I  felt  that  my  prayer  would  be  answered. 
My  reasoning  is  freer  than  my  living,  my  living  than 


THE  STATISTICS  235 

my  tradition.  I  have  never  succeeded  in  getting 
away  entirely  from  the  dogmatic  fear-teaching  of 
parents  and  Sunday-School." 

A  few  among  scientists  and  also  among  the  other 
groups,  refrained  from  marking  any  statement,  be- 
cause the  questions  **  are  so  phrased  that  it  is  prac- 
tically impossible  for  thinkers  of  a  certain  very  ad- 
vanced but  yet  quite  conservative  school  to  answer 
them  without  creating  false  impressions."  Their 
"  real  belief  is  neither  expressed  by  an  affirmative 
nor  by  a  negative  answer."  The  same  complaint  is 
voiced  by  an  historian,  thus,  "  The  questions  relating 
to  God  are  so  formulated  as  to  make  it  impossible 
for  me  to  formulate  my  belief.  I  would  say  '  no  '  to 
the  first  two  questions.  But  /  have  a  belief."  Oth- 
ers say,  similarly :  "  I  fear  that  I  could  not  state 
the  truth  as  I  see  it  by  merely  answering  this  Q." ; 
or,  "  I  do  believe  in  a  God  and  in  prayer,  but  not  as 
you  have  outlined  it" 

These  persons  rebelled  against  the  limitations  im- 
posed by  my  statements  upon  the  expression  of  their 
philosophico-religious  opinions.  They  assumed  that 
I  wished  to  find  out  what  they  believed,  and  com- 
plained that  marking  the  statements  submitted  to 
them  would  not  convey  a  sufficient  idea  of  their  own 
opinion.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  was  interested 
merely  to  discover  whether  or  not  they  held  the  par- 
ticular beliefs  formulated  in  the  Q.  What  else  they 
might  believe,  fell  outside  my  present  concern.  I 
asked,  "  Do  you  believe  this  or  not?  "  The  answer 
these  persons  made  is,  in  effect,  "We  cannot  reply 
because  we  believe  something  else"  !    This  illogical 


236  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

objection  derived  strength,  I  think,  from  a  fear  that 
the  denial  of  God  as  defined,  would  class  them  with 
"  degraded "  materialists.  That  fear  has  little 
foundation,  for  it  is  well  known  that  to-day  the  de- 
nial in  question  is  as  likely  as  not  to  point  to  an 
idealistic  view  of  life.  The  conclusions  of  this  book 
will  show  what  inference  I  draw  from  these  statis- 
tics. 

B.      THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  THE  DEFINITION  OF  GOD 
AS  CONTAINED  IN  THE  QUESTIONNAIRE 

There  remain  to  be  considered  a  number  of  cases 
of  misunderstanding  A  1  which  either  prevented 
marking  or  led  to  an  erroneous  marking  of  the  state- 
ments concerning  God. 

In  a  long  letter  a  physical  scientist  declares  that 
the  meaning  of  the  expression  "  answer  to  prayer  '* 
is  not  clear  to  him  and  begs  permission  to  ask 
whether  in  the  Q.  it  means : — 

'*  (1)  That  the  specific  thing  or  change  among 
things  prayed  for  shall  follow  the  prayer; 

"  (2)  That  the  specific  thing  or  change  prayed 
for,  or  something  which  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
petitioner  is  equally  desirable,  shall  follow  the 
prayer;  or 

"  (3)  In  addition  to  the  occurrence  of  (1)  or  (2) 
above,  the  offering  of  prayer  is  a  sine  qua  non  of  the 
occurrence  of  (1)  or  (2)  ;  or 

"  (4)  Has  the  term  some  meaning  not  covered  by 
the  above?" 

The  meaning  of  A  1,  has  been  obvious  to  nearly  all 
my  scientific  correspondents.  They  have  under- 
stood that  the  specific  thing,  or  change  prayed  for. 


THE  STATISTICS  237 

or  something  equally  desirable  following  the  prayer, 
does  not  constitute  an  answer  in  the  sense  intended, 
unless  this  "  thing  "  or  ''  change  "  he  the  result  of 
the  will  of  a  superhuman  Being  moved  by  the  jnayer. 
The  seriousness  of  this  gentleman's  desire  "  to  re- 
turn a  useful  answer  "  may  be  measured  by  the  cir- 
cumstance that  he  does  not  say  which  one  of  the  sev- 
eral meanings  he  takes  the  trouble  to  distinguish  is 
the  one  he  favors.  We  may  be  assured,  however, 
that  he  is  not  in  a  position  to  mark  A  1. 

Another  physical  scientist  formulates  briefly  his 
beliefs  and  leaves  it  to  me  to  place  him  in  the  cate- 
gory to  which  he  belongs.    He  writes : — 

"  You  ask  if  I  believe  in  God,  and  I  say,  '  Cer- 
tainly,' for  otherwise  I  should  be  simply  asserting 
my  own  comprehension  of  the  world  and  life.  Such 
claims  I  would  be  very  far  from  making.  .  .  .  Sec- 
ond, you  ask  if  I  believe  in  a  God  who  upsets  natural 
law  at  the  request  of  prayer.  I  should  say,  *  Cer- 
tainly not.'  " 

At  this  point  we  come  to  the  cause  of  the  writer's 
unwillingness  to  mark  any  of  the  statements  under 
A.  He  disclaims  any  right  to  assert  ''  that  the  ex- 
pression of  the  desire  of  any  individual  could  not 
possibly  have  any  effect  upon  the  course  of  events. 
Such  expression  certainly  does  have  effect  upon  the 
course  of  events  since  one's  own  feelings  and  pur- 
poses are  only  a  part  of  that  course."  The  writer 
is  evidently  right  in  this  last  affirmation.  But  since 
the  Q.  expressedly  includes  effects  of  prayer  due 
to  the  action  of  a  divine  Being,  moved  to  action  by 
prayer,  why  did  he  not  mark  A  2  ? 


238  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

A  third  physical  scientist,  who  also  did  not  an- 
swer, wrote: — 

"  I  should  be  pleased  to  learn  in  some  detail  just 
what  your  first  question  means.  Was  it  to  ask  if  I 
believe  in  a  material  God  who  would  or  might  alter 
or  revoke  natural  law  and  thus  fulfill  an  expressed 
request  for  some  material  thing  which  I  might  desire 
or  request?  If  so,  my  answer  would  have  been  defi- 
nitely, '  No.'  " 

My  answer  to  this  correspondent  ran  somewhat  as 
follows,  "  The  statements  of  the  Q.  define  neither 
God  nor  the  kind  of  request  answered  by  him,  as  ma- 
terial or  spiritual.  Why,  then,  construe  in  the  sense 
of  material?  Any  kind  of  response  proceeding 
from  the  will  of  a  God  moved  to  action  by  man's 
supplication  or  desire,  falls  under  *  answer '  as  de- 
fined in  A  1." 

Two  other  scientists,  and  several  belonging  to 
other  groups,  refrained  from  marking,  but  declared 
a  belief  in  a  God  who  does  not  interfere  with  his  own 
daws.  And  six  scientists — I  shall  not  ispeak  of 
similar  instances  in  the  other  groups — marked  A  1 
although  they  also  reject  God's  intervention  in  nat- 
ural laws.  They  say,  *'  The  answer  is  always 
through  the  mind  of  man  and  never  *  breaks '  a 
natural  law."  Or,  "  I  do  not  believe  in  any  Inter- 
ruption or  subversion  of  known  laws  of  nature.  I  do, 
however,  believe  in  a  supreme  being."  Or,  "  I  should 
not  expect  an  answer  involving  any  upset  of  the  es- 
tablished order  of  the  physical  universe." 

Did  these  six  scientists  mark  correctly  in  marking 
A  1?    Any  one  thinking  that  because  of  the  action 


THE  STATISTICS  239 

of  prayer  upon  God's  will,  something  will  happen 
that  would  not  otherwise  take  place,  marks  correctly 
when  making  a  cross  opposite  A  1.  Some  of  these 
scientists  seem  to  be  of  the  opinion  of  the  theologian 
who  teaches  that  "  God  can  excite  new  centers  of 
association  of  ideas,  can  arrest  old  associations,  all 
intellectual  activity  being  subservient  to  feeling. 
He  can  produce  whatever  doctrines  and  ideas  He 
wishes."  '  The  distinction  between  the  relation 
maintained  by  God  with  the  physical  and  with  the 
psychical  world  is  not  infrequent  among  people  of 
some  culture.  Such  is  probably  the  opinion  of  the 
person  who  holds  that  ''the  answer  is  always  through 
the  mind  of  man." 

Detailed  acquaintance  with  the  orderliness  of 
physical  nature  tends  to  dispossess  God  of  that 
realm.  Will  not  familiarity  with  mental  and  social 
laws  have  the  same  effect  with  regard  to  the  psychic 
world?  The  statistics  of  beliefs  of  the  psychologi- 
cal and  sociological  groups  give,  it  seems,  an  affirm- 
ative answer  to  this  query.  For  the  psychologist,  the 
mental  life  is  as  completely  within  the  realm  of  law 
as  the  physical ;  therefore,  if  the  existence  of  law  is 
a  bar  to  God's  action,  he  is  excluded  from  interven- 
ing in  the  psychical  life  of  man  as  well  as  in  the 
physical  universe. 

Are  we  to  suppose  that  all  those  who  marked  A  1 
without  comment  accept  the  possibility  of  divine  in- 
tervention both  in  the  physical  and  in  the  mental 

'  H  Bois  •  Infipiration  and  Revelation;  Unpublished  Lec- 
tures to  Theological  Students:  1902-1903.  Quoted  by  E.  Pon- 
seve,  in  Experience  et  Acte  de  Foi;  a  Doctors  Dissertation; 
Valence;  1905.     Pages  63,  64. 


240  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

world  ?    Most  of  them  very  probably  do,  but  a  num- 
ber limit  God's  action  to  the  psychical  world.' 

C.      THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  A  2  AND  B  2  * 

These  statements  do  not  necessarily  imply  a  con- 
viction of  the  non-existence  of  God  and  of  immor- 
tality.    They  may  mean  merely  the  absence  of  the 


"  Regarding  the  term  "  subjective,"  I  must  observe  that  one 
psychologist  interpreted  that  term  in  the  strict  sense.  He 
v/rote,  "  I  have  this  belief  (A  1)  on  the  basis  of  personal  ex- 
perience which  I  can  interpret  in  no  other  way.  But  do  you 
not  see  that  the  man  who  does  not  believe  in  God,  but  holds 
to  the  strictest  form  of  the  mechanical  rather  than  the 
sipiritual  theory  of  the  world,  is  above  all  other  logically 
bound  to  hold  that  such  tremendous  facts  as  the  constant 
prayers  of  hundreds  of  millions  cannot  possibly  fail  to  have 
objective  effects?"  The  effects  the  writer  calls  here  **  ob- 
jective," are  the  results  of  prayer  which  pass  beyond  the 
praying  individual  affect  other  persons  and  which,  neverthe- 
less, are  not  due  to  the  action  of  a  divinity  acting  in  conse- 
quence of  the  prayer.  Prayer  exerts,  incontrovertibly,  such 
objective  effects.  But  they  are  usually  included  in  the  ex- 
pression "  subjective  effect  of  prayer,"  as  currently  used.  In 
any  case,  statement  A  1  implies  clearly  that  the  "  effect  " 
must  come  from  God,  at  the  instigation  of  the  petitioner. 

If  we  suppose  that  this  writer  admits  only  the  strictly  sub- 
jective and  the  objective  psychological  effects  of  prayer,  and 
not  the  determination  of  God's  will  by  it,  he  belongs  with 
those  who  do  not  believe  A  1.  Errors  resulting  from  this 
misunderstanding  of  the  meaning  given  to  "  subjective  "  in 
the  Q.,  would  have  undoubtedly  increased  the  number  of  the 
believers.  I  do  not  think,  however,  that  many  persons  took 
the  word  in  its  strict  signification.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
present  instance  is  the  only  one  which  has  come  to  my  notice. 

I  am  not  sure  that,  except  in  the  case  of  the  psychologrists, 
the  addition  to  A  1  of  the  word  "  objective  "  (the  statement 
of  the  Q.  would  then  have  read,  "  I  mean  more  than  the  sub- 
jective and  objective  psychological  effects  of  prayer  ")  would 
not  have  caused  more  trouble  than  its  omission.  I  find  even 
my  philosophic  correspondents  writing  "  subjective  effects," 
when  obviously  they  intend  to  include  what  the  person  cited 
means  by  "  objective." 

"  A.  2 :  I  do  not  believe  in  God  as  defined  above.  B  2 :  I 
believe  neither  in  conditional  nor  in  unconditional  immortal- 
ity of  the  person. 


THE  STATISTICS  241 

conviction  of  their  existence.  In  that  case  state- 
ments A  2  and  B  2  have  approximately  the  same 
meaning  as  statements  A  3  and  B  3  (agnosticism  or 
absence  of  definite  belief).  But,  although  the  Q. 
asks  that  every  statement  ''true  for  you"  be  marked, 
only  a  small  percentage  of  those  who  marked  3, 
marked  also  2.  One  may,  therefore,  probably  re- 
gard the  majority  of  those  who  marked  A  2  and  B  2, 
and  not  also  A  3  and  B  3,  as  desirous  of  doing  more 
than  affirm  the  absence  of  the  belief  in  God  and  im- 
mortality, they  may  be  taken  to  have  intended  to  ex- 
press positive  belief  in  their  non-existence. 

Readers  may  ask  themselves  why  I  did  not  formu- 
late statements  which  would  have  separated  more 
definitely  those  who  merely  lack  the  beliefs  expressed 
in  A  1  and  B  1,  from  those  ready  to  affirm  their  fals- 
ity.   But  can  a  sharp  line  of  demarcation  be  drawn 
between  these  two  attitudes?     Evidently  not;  the 
terms,  belief,  unbelief,  doubt,  uncertainty,  are  sus- 
ceptible of  endless  gradation.     'The  questions  do 
not  provide  for  degrees  and  intensities,"  complains 
one  of  those  who  returned  a  blank  Q.     This  is  un- 
fortunately true,   but  in   attempting   to   refine,   I 
should  probably  have  made  matters  worse.     As  a 
matter  of  fact,  few  were  seriously  troubled  by  the 
indefiniteness  of  these  terms,  and  my  purpose  was 
as  well,  perhaps  better  served  by  the  statements  of 
the  Q.,  as  by  any  others;  for,  the  persons  who  could 
affirm  a  belief  in  the  two  great   propositions   of 
Christianity  are  actually  separated  from  those  who 
could  not ;  and,  in  addition,  those  who  were  willing 
to  do  more  than  affirm  absence  of  belief  and  doubt, 


242  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

were  enabled  to  do  so,  and  usually  did  so,  by  mark- 
ing A  2  and  B  2,  without  marking  also  A  3  and  B  3. 

Something  of  the  variety  of  attitudes  and  the 
fluidity  of  the  meanings  which  should  be  covered  by 
a  theoretically  perfect  Q.  is  suggested  in  the  follow- 
ing extracts  from  two  letters  written  by  eminent 
phychologists : — 

''  Question  3  really  represents  my  position,  which 
would  rather  be  agnostic  in  the  purely  negative  sense 
of  the  word,  not  the  positive  and  aggressive  sense. 
My  feeling  is  that  for  all  I  know,  there  may  be  a 
personal  God  who  answers  prayers,  and  there  may 
be  a  personal  immortality.  The  surface  facts  do 
not  seem  to  me  to  favor  either,  but  I  have  been 
wrong  so  many  times  in  my  life  that  I  am  emphat- 
ically not  ready  to  deny  the  possibility  of  either. 
What  the  possibilities  of  the  universe  are,  is  surely 
one  of  the  things  I  do  not  know." 

"  These  things  have  for  the  past  several  years 
become  so  entirely  indifferent  to  me  —  save  as  mat- 
ters for  psychological  study — that  I  find  it  dif- 
ficult to  answer  the  questions.  Ten  years  ago  I 
should  have  said  I  do  not  believe — I  am  an  agnostic 
(possibly  with  reservations  as  to  precise  definition) 
— I  do  not  believe — I  do  not  desire.  Now  it  seems 
to  me  that,  while  there  is  no  chance  of  my  ever  be- 
lieving or  desiring,  to  say  that  I  do  not  believe  and 
do  not  desire  is  to  make  too  positive  a  statement. 
What  I  mean  is  that,  if  I  could  bring  myself  to  any 
serious  consideration,  I  might  decide  (and  probably 
should  decide)  No,  again;  but  serious  consideration 
strikes  me  as  waste  of  time;  these  things  are  just 


THE  STATISTICS  243 

non-existent  for  me;  I  can  no  more  say:  '  I  do  not 
desire  immortality '  than  I  can  say,  '  I  do  not  desire 
to  reign  in  hell.'  I  may  say,  '  I  do  not  believe  in 
God '  is  a  thing  I  should  never  think  of  saying,  be- 
cause it  implies  some  interest  in  the  question." 

D.      THE  MARKING  OF  A  3  AND  B  3  *  IN  THE  FIRST  AND 

IN  THE  SECOND  FORMULATION  OF 

THE  QUESTIONNAIRE 

Those  who  marked  A  3  and  B  3  occasionally  ex- 
plained their  meaning  by  phrases  such  as  these: 
"  Neither  belief  nor  disbelief  " ;  ''  In  the  dark  " ;  '^  I 
mean  merely  the  absence  of  belief  " ;  ''I  have  no 
sufficient  knowledge  of  it."  Three  knew  that  **  it 
is  impossible  for  any  one  to  know  anything  about 
such  matters."  An  attitude  representative  of  a  large 
number  of  '*  agnostics  "  is  expressed  in  these  words, 
*'  I  believe  in  a  spiritual  life  here  and  now.  The 
trend  of  the  universe  is  towards  the  higher  and 
better.  Righteousness  here  is  sufficient  for  me.  Of 
God  and  the  future  I  am  ignorant.  The  best  im- 
pulses of  man  are  not  meaningless.  I  am  content, 
I  believe,  not  to  know  where  evidence  is  lacking." 

It  appears  very  clearly  from  the  answers  that 
A  3  in  the  first  Q.  was  marked  by  agnostics  in  the 
exact  sense  of  the  term,  and  also  by  persons  who, 
without  denying  the  possibility  of  knowledge,  are 
themselves  in  doubt.  It  is  equally  clear  that  in  the 
revised  Q.,  A  3  was  marked  not  only  by  persons  with 
indefinite  views,  but  also  by  genuine  agnostics.     I 


*  A  3  and  B  3,  in  the  first  Q. :     "  I  am  an  a^ostic  ";  in  the 
second,  "  I  have  no  definite  belief  concerning  this  question." 


244  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

have  therefore  put  all  the  answers  to  A  3  and  B  3 
under  the  double  head  "  Agnostics  and  Doubters." 

E.      THE   INTERPRETATION   OF   ''  PERSONAL'' 
IMMORTALITY 

It  was  not  intended  that  believers  in  continuation 
after  death  without  preservation  of  the  conscious- 
ness of  identity  should  mark  B  1.  If  any  have,  the 
number  of  disbelievers  recorded  in  the  tables  is 
smaller  than  it  should  be. 

The  anticipation  of  continued  individual  existence 
without  the  preservation  of  the  consciousness  of 
identity  satisfies  neither  the  desire  for  justice  nor 
that  for  the  perpetuation  of  love  and  friendship ;  it  is 
not  the  immortality  for  which  the  human  heart  com- 
monly yearns. 

F.      SUMMARY  OF  THE  DISCUSSION  OF  THE  FAILURES 

TO  MARK  THE  QUESTIONNAIRE  AND  OF 

ITS  INTERPRETATION 

The  14.7  per  cent,  of  scientists  who  returned  blank 
Q.,  include  eight  per  cent,  who  for  physical  reasons 
could  not  answer  (death,  severe  illness,  or  ab- 
sence) ,  or  else  gave  some  clue  to  their  opinions. 
The  utterances  of  most  of  the  latter  are  sufficiently 
explicit  (as  the  reader  may  have  judged  for  himself 
by  the  preceding  quotations)  to  show  that  their  be- 
liefs, were  they  entered  upon  the  statistical  tables, 
would  increase  rather  than  decrease  the  proportion 
of  non-believers  in  A  1. 

A  similar  statement  is  true  regarding  the  part  of 
the  Q.  dealing  with  immortality.  The  number  of 
those  who  marked  B  2  and  B  3  is  less  than  the  whole 


THE  STATISTICS  245 

number  of  those  who  do  not  believe  in  B  1.  Why,  for 
instance,  did  the  person  who  wrote  the  following 
refrain  from  marking  any  of  the  statements  on  im- 
mortality? "  I  have  no  opinion  and  do  not  care  to 
the  extent  of  striving  to  understand  the  unknow- 
able." He  could,  it  seems,  have  marked  B  3.  An- 
other, who  also  refrained  from  marking  the  Q.,  de- 
clared the  subject  "  an  open  one."  Why,  then,  not 
mark  the  affirmation  of  ''  no  definite  belief  "  made 
in  B  3?  The  same  question  may  be  asked  of  others 
who  make  similar  remarks.  One  person  who  calls 
himself  a  ''  materialist,"  did  not  mark  the  Q.  I  may 
add  that  only  once  did  that  term  appear  in  the  cor- 
respondence occasioned  by  this  inquiry. 

As  to  the  failure  to  return  the  Q.  (10  per  cent.), 
an  indeterminate  number  is  to  be  ascribed  to  death, 
to  critical  illness,  or  to  absence.  The  information 
derived  from  the  comments  of  those  who  returned 
but  did  not  mark  the  statements,  and  in  particular 
of  those  who  answered  only  at  the  second  request 
(see  the  discussion  of  table  XXIII),  indicates  that, 
had  the  remainder  of  this  10  per  cent,  answered, 
the  proportion  of  disbelievers  would  very  probably 
have  been  increased. 

The  proportions  of  Q.  not  returned,  or  returned 
blank  in  the  other  groups,  will  be  mentioned  in  the 
proper  place.  In  every  case,  except  that  of  the  his- 
torians, they  will  be  found  to  be  less,  and  in  some 
cases  very  much  less,  than  for  the  scientists. 

The  foregoing  survey  of  the  causes  of  failure  to 
answer  should  not  leave  us  under  the  impression  that 
on  the  whole  the  Q.  was  frowned  upon.    After  all, 


246  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

the  proportion  of  those  who  raised  objections  is 
small.  Two  of  these  are  conspicuous  for  their  pic- 
turesque language : 

"  A  man  must  be  lacking  a  job  or  a  mind  to  go 
into  this  business/* 

"  This  is  a  lot  of  damned  rot." 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  these  two  persons  marked 
the  Q. ;  the  first  A  1  and  B  1;  the  other,  A  2  and 
B  2.  A  large  number  wrote  approvingly  and  con- 
gratulated the  author  upon  having  undertaken  this 
research;  the  great  majority  complied  with  the  re- 
quest for  information  and  otherwise  remained  silent. 
In  the  main,  the  reception  accorded  to  this  inquiry 
and  its  results  should  make  impossible  in  the  future 
the  rough  and  ready  adverse  judgment  which  many 
are  in  the  habit  of  formulating  as  to  the  possibility 
of  obtaining,  by  the  questionnaire  method,  definite 
and  reliable  knowledge  upon  questions  such  as  those 
under  investigation  here. 

The  chief  result  I  hoped  to  achieve  by  means  of 
the  statements  of  part  A  of  the  Q.  should  now  be 
evident.  I  wanted  to  separate  the  believers  in  a 
personal  God  from  all  others,  even  from  those  who, 
rejecting  that  belief,  entertain  neverthless  a  spir- 
itual conception  of  ultimate  reality. 

In  the  sphere  of  practical  religion,  gods  are  de- 
fined by  the  attributes  implied  in  their  worship. 
Now,  the  worship  of  the  God  of  the  Christian 
Church,  in  all  its  branches,  implies  a  Being  in  direct, 
affective,  and  intellectual  communication  with  man. 
No  one  who  has  ever  entered  a  Christian  Church 
and  opened  a  Prayer  Book,  whether  Roman  Cath- 


THE  STATISTICS  247 

olic,  Protestant,  or  Unitarian,  can  fail  to  know  that 
v/hen  both  the  physical  and  the  psychical  world  are 
conceived  as  subject  to  immutable  laws,  not  subject 
in  any  degree  to  human  desires  acting  upon  a  Being 
able  to  gratify  them,  Christian  liturgies  and  hymn- 
ologies  have  lost  their  object.  In  such  a  world, 
prayer  for  rain,  for  protection  from  sin,  for  pardon ; 
songs  of  praise  and  adoration — these,  and  nearly 
everything  else  in  the  church  services,  have  be- 
come atrophied  survivals  of  means  of  salvation  once 
potent. 

I  am  well  aware  that  there  are  those  who  say, 
"  No ;  these  things  have  not  lost  their  meaning,  they 
have  assumed  another  meaning."  Why  should 
earnest  men  quibble?  The  practical  question  raised 
by  this  research  is  precisely  whether  those  for  whom 
these  "  things  **  have  changed  their  meaning,  as  they 
actually  have,  should  nevertheless  strive  to  preserve 
the  established  forms  of  worship. 

II.     THE  SCIENTISTS 

This  part  of  Investigation  C  is  based  upon  an- 
swers received  from  1000  persons  chosen  by  a  rule 
of  chance  from  American  Men  of  Science.  It  is 
separated,  for  a  reason  already  indicated,  into  two 
divisions  of  500  each;  and  these  again  fall  into  two 
subdivisions  including  300  persons  of  lesser  and  200 
of  greater  distinction.'     Every  other  group  in  in- 


'  The  300  less  eminent  men  of  the  first  division  were  se- 
lected by  taking  the  first  name  on  every  other  page  of  Amer- 
ican Men  of  Science;  and  in  addition,  as  this  did  not  pro- 


248  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

vestigation  C  was  likewise  divided  into  "  lesser"  and 
"  greater  "  men.  In  one  division  of  the  scientists,  I 
kept  separate  the  answers  of  the  physical,  from 
those  of  the  biological  scientists,  and  was  thus  able 
to  show  what  influence  training  in  these  sciences  has 
upon  the  belief  in  God  and  immortality. 

The  sciences  and  the  occupations  represented  in 
the  first  division  are  indicated  in  chart  III.  The 
upper  figure  in  each  square  of  the  table  refers  to  the 


vide  the  desired  number,  the  last  name  on  every  fifteenth 
page.  In  case  one  of  the  names  so  found  was  starred,  the 
first  unstarred  name  following,  or  preceding  was  taken  in- 
stead. The  200  eminent  men  were  found  by  taking  every 
fifth  starred  name  in  the  volume.  Since  there  are  in  the 
whole  directory  1000  starred  names,  this  method  produced 
the  desired  200  names. 

In  the  second  division,  the  300  less  eminent  men  were 
found  by  taking  the  second  name  on  every  other  page,  and 
the  name  before  the  last  on  every  fifteenth  page.  When  a 
starred  name,  or  a  name  which  had  been  used  in  the  first 
division  was  encountered,  it  was  replaced  by  the  nearest 
available  name.  The  200  eminent  men  were  found  by  taking 
every  fifth  starred  name,  beginning  at  the  end  of  the  volume. 

I  left  my  correspondents  in  ignorance  of  the  distinction 
T  was  making  in  lesser  and  greater  men.  A  slight  difference 
in  the  size  of  the  Q.  was  used  as  a  means  of  keeping  separate 
the  answers  from  the  two  classes.  The  answers  from  the 
physical  scientists  were  kept  distinct  from  those  of  the  biolo- 
gists by  a  difference  in  the  printing  of  the  Q. 

The  choice  of  the  1000  starred  names  in  A^nerican  Men  of 
Science  was  made  by  Dr.  James  McKeen  Cattell  with  the  co- 
operation of  twelve  of  the  most  distinguished  men  in  each 
science.  From  these  men.  Dr.  Cattell  asked  and  received,  for 
each  science,  twelve  lists  containing  a  definite  number  of 
names  arranged  in  the  order  of  their  distinction,  according  to 
the  opinion  of  the  makers  of  the  lists.  From  the  twelve  lists 
in  each  science.  Dr.  Cattell  compiled,  according  to  a  method 
described  in  an  Appendix  to  American  Men  of  Science,  the 
lists  of  names  starred  in  that  volume. 


THE  STATISTICS  249 

lesser,  the  lower  one  to  the  greater  men.  It  ap- 
pears that  college  and  university  professors  make 
up  over  60  per  cent,  of  the  total.  The  next  two 
larger  groups  are  of  men  employed  by  the  govern- 
ment (12  per  cent.) ,  and  in  industries  (11  per  cent.) . 

The  Beliefs  in  God  and  Immortality. — In  the  two 
divisions  of  scientists  taken  together,  the  believers 
in  God  (A  1)  amount  to  41.8  per  cent,  of  the  num- 
ber of  those  who  answered.  If  we  put  together  the 
disbelievers,  (41.5  per  cent.) ,  i.  e.,  those  who  marked 
A  2,  and  the  agnostics  or  doubters,  i.  e.,  those  who 
marked  A  3,  we  get  58.2  per  cent,  of  non-believers." 

If  the  lesser  men  are  compared  with  the  greater, 
the  number  of  believers  become,  for  the  former,  48.2 
per  cent,  of  the  lesser  men  who  answered;  and  for 
the  greater  men,  31.6  per  cent,  of  the  greater  men 
who  answered.  Thus  it  appears  that,  among  the 
lesser  men,  believers  and  non-believers  are  nearly 
equal,  while  over  two-thirds  of  the  greater  men  are 
not  able  to  affirm  belief  in  the  God  of  the  Christian 
churches.  The  reliability  of  these  figures,  when 
taken  to  indicate  a  difference  due  to  intellectual 
ability  and  knowledge  and  to  traits  making  for  suc- 
cess in  the  professions  concerned,  might  be  ques- 
tioned if  quite  similar  differences  were  not  found  in 


*  I  shall  use  this  term  throughout,  to  designate  by  one 
term  both  those  who  marked  A2  (the  disbelievers)  and  those 
who  marked  A3   (the  agnostics  or  doubters). 


250  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

CHART  III 
OCCUPATIONS  OF  THE  MEN  OF  SCIENCE  OF 
DIVISION  I 
Physical  Psychol.  Sociolo.  Totals 

Mathemat.  Biolog.       and  and      in  per 

Science  Sciences  Philos.  Educat.  cents. 

College  and  Univ.  rl07  57  6  3  58. 

Professors \  73  52  5  5  68. 

Government  serv-  f  26  10  —  —  12. 

ice \17  6  —  —  12. 

r  38  3  —  —  14. 

Industry |  ^g  __  __  1  6. 

Lower  School          |    7  4  2  —  4. 

Teachers \    1  —  —  —  — 

Physicians  and        f  —  10  —  —  3. 

Surgeons I  —  3  —  —  1.5 

r    1          2        —          6  3. 

Museums i  g  ^         gg 

^^^^^^^^ { 9    2   "i    "^    ?; 

Unclassified I    ^  3        —         —  3. 

I    1  3         —         —  2. 

Notes : — The  upper  figure  in  each  space  refers  to 
the  lesser;  the  lower  one,  to  the  greater  men  of 
science. 

The  percentages  {last  column  to  the  right)  are  of 
the  total  number  of  lesser  or  greater  men,  as  the 
case  may  be.  , 

It  will  be  noticed  that  a  few  psychologists,  sociolo- 
gists, and  educators  got  into  this  division.  This  was 
not  intended.  In  the  second  division  physical  and 
biological  scientists  only  were  included.  With  this 
difference,  this  table  may  stand  also,  in  a  general 
way,  for  the  second  division. 


THE  STATISTICS  251 

every  one  of  the  other  groups,  both  regarding  God 
and  immortality. 

In  this  group,  as  well  as  in  every  other,  the  num- 
ber of  believers  in  immortality  is  larger  than  the 
number  of  believers  in  God.  This  is  an  interesting 
fact.  When  the  two  divisions  are  taken  together, 
the  believers  in  immortality  are  found  to  be  very 
nearly  equal  to  the  non-believers,  the  proportions 
are  respectively  50.6  per  cent,  and  49.4  per  cent. 
If  we  compare  the  lesser  with  the  greater  men,  we 
get  59.3  per  cent,  of  lesser,  against  36.9  per  cent. 
of  greater  believers. 

Among  the  greater  men,  believers,  disbelievers, 
and  agnostics  or  doubters,  number  each  about  one 
third  of  the  total  number  of  those  who  returned  an 
answer. 

If,  instead  of  taking  the  two  divisions  together, 
we  consider  them  separately,  differences  of  the  same 
kind,  but  a  little  less  for  the  first,  and  somewhat 
larger  for  the  second  division  are  to  be  observed 
with  regard  to  both  beliefs  (see  chart  IV).  The 
difference  between  the  lesser  and  the  greater  men 
of  the  second  division  is  shown  by  the  figures  45.5 
per  cent,  and  27.7  per  cent,  for  believers  in  God; 
and  by  52.8  per  cent,  and  35.2  per  cent.,  for  be- 
lievers in  immortality. 


252 


GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 


CHART  IV 

BELIEF  IN  GOD 
DIVISION    I 


LESSER 


GREATER 

DIVISION   n 


BOTH 


LESSER  GREATER 


BELIEF  IN    IMMORTALITY 
DIVISION    1 


BOTH 


LESSER 


GREA  TER 
DIVISION  n 


BOTH 


LESSER  GREATER  BOTH 

I       \BEUEVER3  l/^DfSBELIEVERS^^AGNO^T/CS  &  DOUBTERS 


THE  STATISTICS  253 

It  is  noteworthy  that  the  number  of  those  who 
announce  agnostic  or  indefinite  opinions  concerning 
immortality  is  greater  than  the  number  of  disbe- 
lievers. This  is  especially  marked  among  the 
greater  men  of  the  second  division :  disbelievers,  25.4 
per  cent. ;  agnostics  and  doubters,  43.7  per  cent. 
They  feel  much  less  hesitation  in  affirming  disbelief 
in  God :  disbelievers,  52.7  per  cent. ;  doubtful  opin- 
ions, 20.9  per  cent.'  It  would  be  interesting  to 
know  how  far  the  recent  efforts  of  the  Psychical 
Researchers  have  led  to  a  shift  from  disbelief  in 
immortality  to  a  suspension  of  judgment. 

Comparison  of  the  Physical  with  the  Biological 
Scientists;  Second  Division. — The  biologists  pro- 
duce a  much  smaller  number  of  believers  in  God  and 
in  immortality  than  the  physicists  (see  chart  V). 
The  figures  are,  for  the  believers  in  God :  physicists, 
43.9  per  cent;  biologists,  30.5  per  cent;  and  for  the 
believers  in  immortality,  50.7  per  cent,  against  37 
per  cent. 

There  are  fewer  believers  among  the  greater  men, 
whether  physicists  or  biologists.  The  smaller  per- 
centage of  believers  is   found  among  the  greater 

^  In  several  instances  the  percentages  given  in  the  text  for 
believers,  disbelievers,  and  agnostics  or  doubters,  sum  up  to 
more  than  one  hundred.  The  reason  for  this  anomaly  is  that 
some  persons  marked  both  disbelief  and  agnosticism  or  doubt 
(statements  2  and  3).  Among  the  men  of  science,  for  in- 
stance, 15  lesser  and  11  greater  men  of  division  I,  and  5 
lesser  and  2  greater  men  of  division  II  marked  both  A2  and 
A3 ;  in  no  other  group  did  this  happen  as  frequently. 

In  the  graphic  representations  I  counted  as  disbelievers  all 
those  who  marked  both  statements. 


254  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

biologists;  they  count  only  16.9  per  cent,  of  be- 
lievers in  God  and  25.4  per  cent,  of  believers  in  im- 
mortality. As  many  as  59.3  per  cent,  of  greater 
biologists  express  disbelief  in  God,  and  31.7  per 
cent,  in  immortality.  The  discussion  of  these  in- 
teresting figures  had  best  be  deferred  until  the 
results  from  the  other  groups  have  been  set  forth. 

The  Desire  for  Immortality. — Among  savage  and 
semi-civilized  populations  every  one  believes  in  im- 
mortality because  directly  observable  facts  seem  to 
establish  continuation  v^ith  absolute  certainty;  but 
no  one  desires  to  enter  the  other  life.  With  us  it 
is  different.  Of  those  who  answered  my  Q.  all  who 
profess  belief  in  immortality,  with  the  exception  of 
three  in  each  division,  express  also  a  desire  for  it. 
Even  of  those  who  do  not  believe,  a  considerable 
number  would  find  great  solace  in  the  assurance  of 
a  future  life. 

"  I  should  be  very  glad  if  the  evidence  seemed  suf- 
ficient to  warrant  marking  the  first  statement  in 
each  part  of  the  Q.,  since  to  my  mind  there  would 
be  considerable  comfort  in  both  beliefs,"  writes  one 
of  my  correspondents.  Another,  who  has  felt 
obliged  to  mark  A  2  and  B  2  because  he  has  "  not 
found  the  slightest  trace  of  evidence  "  for  God  or 
immortality  *'  in  the  course  of  54  years  of  life," 
confesses  that  he  **  sincerely  abhors  "  his  position. 

The  facts  and  the  arguments  known  to  my  corre- 
spondents are  apparently  quite  insuflficient  to  con- 
vince all  those  who  would  find  satisfaction  in  the 
expectation  of  an  after  life. 


THE  STATISTICS 
CHART  V 

BELIEF  IN  GOD- 
PHYSICAL    SCIENTISTS 


255 


LESS£R  .       GREATER  BOTH 

BIOLOGICAL     SCIENTISTS 


LESSER 


GREATER 


BOTH 


BELIEF   IN     IMMORTALITY 
PHYSICAL     SCIENTISTS 


LESSER  GREATER  BOTH 

BIOLOGICAL     SCIENTISTS 


LESSER 

I        \BeLlE\/eR5 


GREATER  BOTH 

toiSBEUEVERS   ^MaGNOSTICS  &  DOUBTERS 


256  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

With  the  normally  constituted  individual,  the 
realization  of  the  absence  of  ground  for  a  belief 
usually  abates,  and  even  removes  the  desire  for  it. 
Such  is  apparently  the  experience  of  the  person  who 
would  desire  immortality  if  he  considered  it  **  at  all 
probable."  The  reasonable  man  tries  to  suppress 
desire  for  the  unattainable,  and  sometimes  suc- 
ceeds. Several  marginal  notes  on  the  Q.  affirm 
this  triumph  of  reason.  But  the  desire  for  immor- 
tality is  usually  too  strong,  either  because  deep-root- 
ed in  human  nature  or  kept  alive  artifically,  to  yield 
to  lack  of  evidence.  In  the  second  division  the  num- 
ber of  non-believers  who  desire  immortality  is  equal 
to  20  per  cent,  of  all  those  who  marked  any  of  the 
statements  concerning  immortality. 

In  the  two  divisions  taken  together,  only  two  dis- 
believers desire  immortality  intensely ;  while  of  those 
who  marked  B  3,  29  desire  it  intensely.  This  fact 
should  be  construed  both  as  indicating  the  destruc- 
tive effect  of  disbelief  upon  desire,  and  the  influence 
of  strong  desire  upon  belief. 

The  prospect  of  immortality  leaves  many  believ- 
ers very  nearly  indifferent.  They  say,  **  I  almost 
never  think  of  it " ;  or,  "  It  does  not  seem  to  influ- 
ence my  life  '' ;  and  the  like.  In  order  to  form  some 
opinion  of  the  vitality  of  this  belief,  we  should  con- 
sult the  answers  to  the  statements  concerning  desire 
for  immortality.  Twenty-seven  per  cent,  of  those 
who  in  the  two  divisions  marked  any  of  the  state- 
ments, do  not  at  all  desire  immortality,  39  per  cent, 
desire  it  moderately,  and  34   per  cent,   intensely. 


THE  STATISTICS  257 

(For  the  statistics  of  the  lesser  and  greater  men  con- 
sidered separately,  see  chart  VI.) 

For  some  unstated  reason,  24  persons  who  marked 
Al  and  B  1  left  B  4  unmarked.  The  only  informa- 
tion available  concerning  these  persons  is  contained 
in  two  remarks :  ''  I  do  not  think  about  immortal- 
ity"; **  I  am  indifferent  to  it."  One  may  conjec- 
ture that  still  others  of  these  24  were  in  the  same 
situation.  They  must  have  found  all  three  state- 
ments under  B  4  too  decidedly  affirmative  to  repre- 
sent fairly  their  attitude,  for  they  neither  desire 
immortality  intensely,  nor  moderately,  nor  yet  do 
they  desire  it  not  at  all.  They  are  rather,  on  the 
whole,  indifferent.  In  any  case,  it  may  be  assumed 
that,  had  they  felt  keen  desire,  they  would  have  indi- 
cated it. 

CHART  VI 
PHYSICAL 


\85.8X  j    \67.7X^^m 

ISSSER.  GR£ATER 

BIOLOGICAL 


I       I  INTENSE  OR  MODERATE 
DESIRE 


NO    DESIRE 


LESSBR  GREATER 


258  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

So  few  genuinely  old-fashioned  utterances  are  to 
be  found  in  my  correspondence,  that  I  quote  this 
model  of  pious  resignation :  "  I  desire  immortality 
in  so  far  as  it  is  the  Lord's  will."  A  disbeliever  says 
curtly,  "  I  would  dread  it." 

III.     THE  HISTORIANS 

The  last  membership  list  of  the  American  His- 
torical Association  was  published  in  1911.  It  con- 
tains about  2800  names,  a  part  only  of  whom  are 
professional  historians.  In  order  to  make  this 
group  as  nearly  as  possible  comparable  with  the  men 
of  science,  I  limited  the  investigation  to  professors 
of  history  in  colleges  and  universities,  leaving  out, 
however,  the  professors  of  history  in  Roman  Cath- 
olic institutions  and  all  professors  of  Church  his- 
tory. The  list  thus  prepared  numbered  375  per- 
sons. One  hundred  of  these  were  selected  as  greater 
historians.  Of  the  remainder,  102  were  singled  out 
according  to  a  rule  of  chance  similar  to  the  one 
followed  in  the  case  of  the  scientists,  and  designated 
"  lesser  men."  '    The  other  names  were  disregarded. 

The  Questionnaires  not  Returned,  or  Retuimed 
Unanswered. — Six  Q.  were  returned  unopened,  and 
33  others  were  never  heard  from.    We  may  prob- 


•*  I  do  not  claim  that  these  Hsts  are  perfect.  Limitation 
of  time  induced  me  to  be  satisfied  with  a  list  of  greater  men 
compiled  from  two  initial  lists  prepared  by  competent  per- 
sons; more  was  not  necessary.  The  only  criticism  that  might 
be  directed  against  the  statistics  on  the  ground  that  certain 
names  were  not  accurately  ranked,  is  that  the  differences 
shown  to  exist  between  the  lesser  and  the  greater  historians 
are  smaller  than  they  would  have  been  had  the  lists  been 
more  carefully  prepared.  This  criticism  I  would  accept,  with 
the  reservation  that,  in  my  opinion,  the  error  is  a  very  small 
one  indeed. 


THE  STATISTICS  259 

ably  account  for  this  large  proportion  on  the 
ground  that  the  membership  list  of  the  American 
Historical  Association  which  I  used,  although  the 
most  recent  one,  was  over  three  years  old.  Many 
of  the  Q.  not  heard  from  had  no  doubt  been  ad- 
dressed to  persons  who  had  died  or  were  absent 
from  home  or  were  seriously  ill. 

Of  the  returned  Q.,  twelve  from  greater,  and  seven 
from  lesser  historians,  were  blank.    But  here  agam, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  scientists,  comments  make  it 
possible  to  classify  a  considerable  number  which 
would  on  the  whole  increase  the  percentage  of  non- 
believers.     Persons  who  will  not  put  their  names 
''  to  a  written  creed,"  or  "  do  not  care  to  make  any 
definite  statement,"  are  in  any  case  not  ardent  be- 
lievers in  propositions  Al  and  Bl.    They  could  not 
have  said,  as  did  one  of  their  number  who  marked 
these  statements:     "  With  me  it  is  not  only  a  con- 
viction; it  is  a  fellowship  and  an  experience  of  great 
reality."     The  tables  include,  however,  only  those 
who  marked  the   statements.     Four   of  those   ad- 
dressed were  reported  away  and  one  is  dead.    Other 
blank  Q.   probably   fall  into  the   same  categories. 
For  a  detailed  discussion  of  the  statistical  signifi- 
cance of  the  Q.  returned  unanswered,  the  reader  is 
referred  to  a  preceding  section. 

The  Beliefs  in  God  and  in  Immortalitij.— There 
is  little  difference  between  the  greater  historians 
(see  chart  VII)  and  the  greater  scientists;  only 
about  one-third  of  each  believe  in  God.  The  pro- 
portions are  not  very  different  regarding  immor- 
tality (see  chart  VII).    If,  however,  the  lesser  his- 


260 


GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 


torians  are  compared  with  the  lesser  scientists,  a 
marked  difference  appears.  The  former  include  a 
much  larger  number  of  believers  than  the  latter: 
63  per  cent,  against  48  per  cent.  A  similar  dis- 
parity exists  with  regard  to  immortality. 

In  round  numbers,  the  proportion  of  historian 
non-believers  in  God  among  greater  men  is  about 
equal  to  that  of  believers  among  the  lesser  men, 
namely  two-thirds  of  the  whole  number  of  those  who 
answered.  Of  the  36.9  per  cent,  of  non-believing 
lesser  men,  as  many  as  34.2  per  cent. ;  and  of  the 
67.1  per  cent,  of  non-believing  greater  men,  as  many 
as  50  per  cent,  affirmed  positive  disbelief  in  God 
(A2).  The  contrast  between  the  lesser  and  the 
greater  men  is  hardly  less  regarding  immortality. 

CHART  VII 


BELIEF  IN  GOD 


LESSER  GREATER 

BELIEF  IN   IMMORTALITY 


BOTH 


LESSER 

I       \  BELIEVERS 


GREATER 
I  DISBELIEVERS 


BOTH 
A  GNOS  TICS  <S  D0U3  TERS 


THE  STATISTICS  261 

Three  who  marked  Al  disclaim  any  belief  in 
*'  miraculous  intervention  with  the  laws  of  nature," 
or  "  suspension  of  natural  laws."  Two  affirm  a  hope 
of  immortality.  One  of  these  marked  neither  Bl 
nor  B2;  the  other  marked  B2. 

The  Desire  for  Immortalitij. — The  figures  reveal 
nothing  of  general  interest  not  apparent  in  the 
figures  for  the  scientists  (chart  VI.)  Forty-five 
per  cent,  of  the  non-believers  desire  immortality 
either  moderately  or  intensely.  Of  the  believers, 
only  one  affirm.s  the  absence  of  desire.  The  number 
of  greater  men  who  do  not  desire  immortality  is 
nearly  double  that  of  the  lesser  men  in  the  same 
situation.' 

IV.     THE    SOCIOLOGISTS 

The  last  membership  list  of  the  American  Socio- 
logical Association  (published  in  1913)  contains 
approximately  580  names,  a  large  number  of  whom 
are  of  persons  who  may  be  called  professional 
sociologists  neither  in  the  practical  nor  in  the  acade- 
mic sense.  I  thought  I  might,  without  increasing 
the  total  number  addressed  and  without  giving  up 
the  comparison  of  lesser  with  greater  professors, 

*  One  who  did  not  mark  belief,  qualifies  thus  his  affirmation 
of  desire,  "  if  [the  other  life]  is  not  radically  different  from 
the  present."  Another  who  marked  both  conditional  im- 
mortality and  moderate  desire,  adds,  "  but  merely  on  account 
of  the  instinctive  clinging  to  life,  and  not  from  any  rational 
conception  of  the  nature  of  the  life  hereafter.  Annihilation 
is  preferable  either  to  hell  or  to  singing  psalms  in  heaven." 
One  who  marked  B3  finds  it  impossible  to  answer  the  ques- 
tions concerning  desire  without  defining  the  conditions  of  im- 
mortality. A  person  who  accepts  "  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  doctrine "  abstained  from  marking  any  statement 
under  B. 


262  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

enlarge  the  interest  of  the  inquiry  by  making  a 
group  of  sociologists  who  are  not  teachers  of  so- 
ciology. Accordingly,  I  prepared  with  the  help  of 
two  competent  collaborators  a  list  of  23  (it  should 
have  been  25)  greater  professors,  and  I  marked  25 
of  the  remaining  professors  according  to  a  rule  of 
chance/"  Of  the  non-teaching  sociologists,  149 
were  selected,  also  according  to  a  rule  of  chance. 
I  had  thus  three  lists,  two  of  which  were  of  pro- 
fessors, numbering  altogether  197  names. 

The  Questionnaires  not  returned  or  returned  un- 
answered.— The  percentage  of  Q.  not  returned  is 
much  less  for  the  sociologists  than  for  the  histori- 
ans and  less  also  than  for  the  scientists.  Shall  we 
credit  sociologists  with  deeper  interest  and  greater 
confidence  in  statistical  investigations?  It  is  cer- 
tainly true  that  the  statistical  method  of  research  is 
the  sociologist's  very  own,  and  that  he  is  much  more 
generally  familiar  with  its  possibilities  than  the  sci- 
entist or  the  historian.  However  that  may  be,  every 
one  of  the  23  greater  sociologists  returned  the  Q. 
and  only  three  of  them  were  blank.  Of  the  25  lesser 
men,  24  filled  the  Q.,  one  only  remaining  unac- 
counted for.  The  non-teaching  sociologists  did  not 
do  so  well.  Fourteen  per  cent,  of  them  ignored  the 
Q.  Four  Q.  were  returned  blank,  two  of  these  be- 
cause of  the  death  of  the  addressee;  a  third  con- 
tained the  following,  "  All  wise  men  are  of  one  re- 
ligion, but  this  wise  man  never  tells  which."    I  ven- 


'"  The  Russell  Sage  Foundation  was  included  among  the 
colleges  and  universities.  Professors  in  Roman  Catholic  in- 
stitutions were  excluded. 


THE  STATISTICS 


263 


CHART  VIII 


BELIEF  IN   GOD 

PROFESSORS  NON-PROFESSORS 


LBSSER  CREA TER 

PROFESSORS    AND 
NON-PROFESSORS 

I        I  BELIEVERS 


\DISBELI£VERS 


XaQNOSTICS    &  DOUBTERS 


BELIEF  IN   IMMORTALITY 
PROFESSORS 


LESSER 
NON-PROF  ES  S  ORS 


GREATER 

PROFESSORS  AND 
NON-PROFESS  ORS 


264  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

ture  the  opinion  that  wise  men  of  this  sort  are  not 
in  a  position  to  mark  Al.  Five  Q.  came  back  un- 
opened, with  the  inscription,  "  Not  found." 

The  Beliefs  in  God  omd  in  Immortality. — The 
professors  of  sociology  separate  themselves  sharply 
from  the  non-academic  sociologists.  Regarding 
the  belief  in  God,  the  latter  stand  about  midway 
between  the  lesser  scientists  and  the  lesser  histori- 
ans (54.6  per  cent,  of  believers;  see  chart  VIII); 
whereas  of  the  45  professors  who  marked  the  Q. 
no  more  than  24.4  per  cent,  are  believers  in  God. 
When  the  greater  professors  are  considered  sepa- 
rately, the  difference  in  the  number  of  believers  and 
non-believers  is  accentuated;  only  19.4  per  cent,  of 
them  marked  Al.  These  figures  are  approximately 
the  same  as  those  for  the  greater  biologists. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  explain  the  particular  place 
occupied  by  the  sociologists  and  the  biologists  in 
this  investigation.  When  the  student  of  physical 
laws  has  come  to  accept  determinism  in  the  physical 
world,  he  may  and  often  does  keep  for  the  less  gen- 
erally understood  biological  and  sociological  phe- 
nomena the  traditional  belief  in  divine  intervention. 
The  biologist  and  the  sociologist,  however,  bet- 
ter acquainted  with  the  natural  causes  of  these 
phenomena  than  their  brothers  of  the  physical 
sciences,  find  it  just  as  impossible  to  admit  God's 
action  in  the  biological  and  sociological  domains  as 
in  the  physical. 

The  figures  referring  to  immortality  suggest  no 
particular  comment.  As  in  the  other  groups,  the 
number  of  believers  in  immortality  is  greater  than 


THE  STATISTICS  265 

the  number  of  believers  in  God.  The  features  char- 
acteristic of  preceding  groups  reappear  here.  Of 
the  non-professing  sociologists  who  marked  Bl,  one 
believes  merely  **  in  the  possibility  "  of  immortality; 
and  another  treats  immortality  "  as  a  working 
hypothesis." 

The  Desire  for  Immortality. — The  only  point  de- 
serving special  mention  is  the  large  proportion  of 
the  non-professional  group  who  desire  immortality 
intensely.  In  all  other  respects,  the  more  general 
remarks  made  with  reference  to  the  corresponding 
figures  for  historians  and  scientists  apply  also  to 
the  sociologists.'' 

V.     THE  PSYCHOLOGISTS 

The  list  of  members  of  the  American  Psychological 
Association  for  1914  contains  288  names.  I  elim- 
inated the  names  of  all  those  who  do  not  teach 
psychology  (making  an  exception,  however,  in  favor 
of    those    engaged    in    scientific    psychological    re- 

''  From  the  comments  it  appears  that  several  abstained 
from  marking  B4  because  the  "  conditions  "  were  not  defined. 
They  said,  "  I  desire  immortality  under  some  conditions." 
Others  refrained  from  expressing  complete  absence  of  desire 
because  they  were  merely  "  indifferent."  On  the  other  hand, 
one  who  had  marked  moderate  desire  describes  his  attitude  as 
one  of  "  practical  indifference."  In  one  case  the  desire  is  a 
"  matter  of  intellectual  interest  "  pure  and  simple.  I  add  the 
comments  of  two  persons,  neither  of  whom  marked  Bl,  al- 
though they  both  expressed  desire  for  immortality. 

**  The  answer  to  B4  depends  largely  upon  my  physical  con- 
dition and  the  weather.  The  day  when  one  feels  immortal, 
one  intensely  desires  immortality." 

"  I  desire  fullness  of  life,  not  all  its  qualities  and  activi- 
ties; life  in  all  its  best  relations  and  noble  purposes.  The 
desire  involves  immortality,  though  its  contents  is  qualitative 
rather  than  temporal." 


266  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

search),  those  teaching  in  Roman  Catholic  institu- 
tions and  exclusively  in  medical  schools/'  and  those 
who  are  decidedly  educators  or  pholosophers  rather 
than  psychologists.  This  last  exclusion  was  the 
more  appropriate  that  I  intended  to  investigate 
separately  the  beliefs  of  philosophers. 

In  a  list  thus  reduced  to  about  two-thirds  of  its 
original  length,  fifty  names  were  singled  out  as  those 
of  the  more  distinguished  psychologists ;  and,  mark- 
ing the  remaining  names  according  to  a  rule  of 
chance,  I  obtained  57  lesser  psychologists. 

The  Questionnaires  Not  Returned  or  Returned 
Unanswered. — Four  greater  men  did  not  return  the 
Q.  ("absence"  was  the  cause  in  one  instance). 
Eight  returned  unanswered  blanks.  Of  the  lesser 
psychologists,  none  failed  to  return  the  Q. ;  and,  of 
the  four  who  returned  blanks,  two  explained  at  some 
length  their  views.  The  letter  of  one  of  these  was 
published  in  a  preceding  section." 

The  Belief  in  God, — The  proportion  of  believers 
(24.2  per  cent.,  see  chart  IX)  is  almost  the  same 
as  among  the  teaching  sociologists  (24.4  per  cent.). 
The  greater  psychologists  yield  the  smallest  pro- 
portion of  believers  of  any  of  the  groups  investi- 
gated, namely  13.2  per  cent.    This  result  bears  out 


**  My  reason  for  eliminating  those  teaching  exclusively  in 
medical  schools,  is  that  these  men  are  usually  physiologists 
rather  than  psychologists. 

"  In  the  selection  of  the  greater  men  in  this  field,  I  was 
assisted  in  the  same  way  as  in  the  preparation  of  the  list  of 
greater  historians. 

To  three  psychologists  who  raised  objections  to  the  form  of 
the  Q.,  I  sent  another  set  of  questions  prepared  for  the  phi- 
losophers.    One  psychologist  answered  that  form. 


THE   STATISTICS 


267 


the  explanation  I  ventured  as  to  the  differences  in 
the  number  of  believers  belonging  to  the  several 
classes  of  scientists. 

The  Belief  in  Immortality. — The  most  striking 
fact  brought  to  light  by  chart  IX  is  that  whereas  in 
every  preceding  group  the  number  of  believers  in 
immortality  is  substantially  larger,  and,  in  the 
case  of  the  sociologists,  very  much  larger  than  that 
of  the  believers  in  God,  in  the  present  group  the 
number  of  believers  in  immortality  is  clearly  less 
than  that  of  the  believers  in  God.  Only  three  of 
the  greater  psychologists  declare  a  belief  either 
in    unconditional    or    in    conditional    immortality. 

CHART  IX 


BELIEF    IN    GOD 


LESSER  GREATER  BOTH 

BELIEF    IN     IMMORTALITY 


LESSER 

{^BEL/EVERS 


GREATER. 

tDIJBELIEVERsl 


BOTH 

\a5nostics  &  doubters 


268  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

Taken  altogether,  the  teaching  sociologists  give  49 
per  cent,  of  believers  in  immortality  as  against  24.4 
per  cent,  of  believers  in  God ;  the  psychologists,  19.8 
per  cent,  as  against  24.2  per  cent.'* 

From  these  figures  one  may  fairly  draw  this  con- 
clusion: in  the  present  phase  of  psychological 
science,  the  greater  one's  knowledge  of  psychical  life, 
the  more  difficult  it  is  to  retain  the  traditional  be- 
lief in  the  continuation  of  personality  after  death. 

The  Desire  for  Immortality. — Although  the  num- 
ber of  those  who  do  not  desire  immortality  (47.2 
per  cent.)  is  far  greater  in  this  than  in  any  other 
group,  nevertheless  the  desire  remains,  not  only  in 
the  small  number  of  believers  (with  one  exception) , 
but,  also  in  addition,  in  34.7  per  cent,  of  the  non-be- 
lievers. 

VI.  THE  PHILOSOPHERS 
I  intended  from  the  first  to  cap  the  preceding 
statistics  with  a  study  of  American  philosophers. 
The  Q.  was,  however,  formulated  primarily  for 
scientific  men.  It  proved,  on  the  whole,  satisfac- 
tory to  them   and  also  to  the  historians,   to  the 


'  *  One  psychologist  replaced  the  word  "  belief  "  by  "  hope." 
Another  who,  like  the  preceding,  marked  none  of  the  state- 
ments under  B,  says,  "  I  think  it  likely,  however,  that  my 
psychological  awareness  of  the  world  and  of  what  I  perceive 
and  conceive  as  myself  will  cease  at  death."  That  is  also 
the  opinion  of  the  one  who  describes  God  as  "  incarnated  in 
him  and  in  others."  He  thinks  it  "  likely  "  that  conscious- 
ness of  the  consciousness  of  our  earthly  self  will  cease.  Is 
that  also  the  opinion  of  the  one  who  marked  Bl  and  wrote, 
"  I  believe  that  there  is  something  corresponding  to  personal 
immortality,  although  I  cannot  make  out  a  satisfactory  belief 
as  to  its  nature"  ?  Should  this  person  not  admit  the  con- 
tinuation of  the  consciousness  of  identity,  he  ought  not  to 
have  marked  Bl. 


THE  STATISTICS  269 

sociologists,  and  even  to  the  psychologists.  As  it 
was  desirable  to  keep  throughout  to  the  same  state- 
ments, I  ventured  to  send  the  same  Q.  to  the 
philosophers  also.  But  the  number  of  objectors 
was  so  considerable  that,  after  some  correspondence 
with  philosophical  friends,  I  prepared  another  set 
of  questions.  My  purpose  remaining  the  same,  the 
new  statements  were  so  shaped  as  to  make  the 
answers  comparable  with  those  already  obtained. 

A  philosopher  who  had  warned  me  that  the  first 
form  would  prove  a  failure,  thought  the  new  formu- 
lation ''  a  great  improvement."  A  large  proportion 
of  those  addressed  did  in  fact  send  in  answers  with- 
out any  expressed  reservation ;  but  a  disconcertingly 
large  number  returned  blanks ;  and,  what  was  worse, 
in  several  instances  the  comments  accompanying  cer- 
tain marked  questions,  especially  Al,  showed  that 
the  same  markings  could  not  be  taken  to  express  in 
all  cases  the  same  view. 

The  circumstances  in  which  I  found  myself  at  the 
time  prevented  a  further  effort  to  formulate  state- 
ments which  might  have  met  more  exactly  the  needs 
of  the  case.  How  difficult  it  would  have  been  to  pro- 
duce something  adequate  without  transforming  alto- 
gether the  scope  of  my  inquiry  appears  from  the 
following  comment. 

"  I  do  not  know  what  is  meant  in  this  circular 
by  the  terms  '  a  God,'  '  the  course  of  nature,'  *  the 
divine,'  *  personal  immortality,'  '  state  of  develop- 
ment.' That  is,  I  do  not  know  in  what  sense  Pro- 
fessor Leuba  uses  these  terms  in  this  connection. 
.  It  would  therefore  be  useless  for  me  to  add 


270  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

my  statistical  contribution. —  This  reply  stands  for 
no  lack  of  interest  or  of  wish  to  cooperate." 

Another,  also  a  well  disposed  correspondent, 
v/rites,  *'  I  would  answer,  if  I  could,  but  I  cannot,  be- 
lieving as  I  do  in  a  meaning  for  all  these  things, 
but  not  in  the  apparent  meaning  of  the  questions." 
This  philosopher  differs  from  the  preceding  in  that 
he  knows  what  the  apparent  meanings  of  the  state- 
ments are;  but,  because  he  does  not  accept  those 
meanings,  he  cannot  answer,  though  he  would  like 
to. 

If  the  reader  will  recall  the  many  quotations  I 
have  made  in  the  preceding  pages,  and  in  particular 
the  letters  from  two  psychologists  on  pages  .  .  and 
.  . . ,  he  v/ill  be  amazed  at  the  difference  in  under- 
standing —  unless  it  be  something  else  —  that  sepa- 
rates philosophers  from  other  men,  even  from 
eminent  psychologists.  For,  in  these  letters  there 
appears  not  even  the  shadow  of  difficulty  in  inter- 
preting the  Q.  It  is  as  clear  to  these  distinguished 
psychologists  as  the  questions  of  the  Census  Bureau. 

One  of  the  potent  reasons  for  failure  to  answer 
has  already  been  mentioned.  Those  addressed 
imagined  that  I  was  preparing  statistics  of  philo- 
sophical opinions  on  God  and  his  relation  to  nature 
and  to  man ;  whereas  my  sole  interest  was  to  find  out 
how  many  of  them  accepted  a  particular  conception 
of  God  and  of  his  relation  to  man.  As  the  state- 
ments did  not  provide  the  scope  necessary  to  an 
expression  of  their  philosophy,  these  persons  found 
the  Q.  "  inadequate."  This  seems  to  have  been  the 
feeling  of  the  one  who  wrote :  — 


THE  STATISTICS  271 

**  I  do  not  find  it  possible  to  answer  your  ques- 
tions by  Yes  or  No.  I  have  very  deep  convictions 
in  reference  to  them  all,  but  I  should  feel  about 
answering  them  with  the  plain  Yes  or  No,  very  much 
the  way  I  would  feel  about  answering  the  articles 
of  the  creed,  that  any  Yes  or  No  was  not  quite  ade- 
quate. I  have  serious  distrust  of  the  statistical 
method  of  promoting  any  matters  of  this  sort,  and 
I  feel  sure  that  these  questions  can  hardly  bring  to 
light  any  adequate  information  about  the  general 
spiritual  attitude  of  present  day  men." 

A  number  of  those  who  returned  blanks  should,  it 
seems,  have  found  it  possible  to  fill  out  the  Q. ;  that 
one,  certainly,  who  wrote,  **  I  believe  its  effect 
(prayer)  is  only  aesthetic,  analogous  to  those  of 
self-expression  through  lyric  poetry  or,  possibly, 
dramatic  poetry." 

But  the  fatal  defect,  for  statistical  purposes,  of 
the  philosophers'  returns,  is  that  the  marking  of 
Al  does  not  express  a  uniform  meaning.  This  ap- 
pears conclusively  in  comments  such  as  the  fol- 
lowing :  — 

''  I  believe  in  a  certain  summation  of  effects 
wrought  by  prayer  —  which  is,  of  course,  to  be  dis- 
tinguished from  the  belief  that  objective  conditions 
may  be  altered  by  the  mere  weight  of  petitions.  In 
a  universe  in  which,  as  I  believe,  the  ordinary  dis- 
tinction between  *  subjective  '  and  *  objective  '  is  a 
practical  and  methodological  one,  there  is  no  hard 
and  fast  distinction  between  the  *  unalterable  '  and 
objective  conditions  and  those  which  are  subject  to 
the  human  will.     Prayer  is  a  potent  influence  in 


272  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

fashioning  the  human  will,  and  a  world  in  which 
men  pray  should  differ  profoundly  from  a  world  in 
which  men  do  not." 

Agreeing  as  I  do  with  all  this,  I  unhesitatingly 
deny  belief  in  Al,  instead  of  affirming  it  as  this  per- 
son does.  In  so  doing,  I  find  myself  in  agreement 
with  practically  all  my  non-philosophical  corre- 
spondents, and  doubtless  also  with  most  philoso- 
phers holding  the  view  of  prayer  defined  in  the  above 
quotation. 

Another,  who  also  marked  Al,  added,  "  In  some 
sense,  yes  —  or  at  least  I  am  inclined  so  to  believe." 
But  when  he  came  to  the  statement,  ''  I  have  no 
definite  belief,  etc."  (A4  of  Q.  for  philosophers)  he 
wrote,  "  Perhaps  this  comes  nearer  my  position 
than  any  of  the  other  statements.  /  do  not  believe 
in  prayer  as  a  means  of  getting  something,  either 
external  goods  or  desirable  psychological  states/'  '' 
Now,  it  seems  clear  that  the  sense  in  which  this  per- 
son marked  Al  is  not  that  given  it  by  the  non- 
philosophers. 

VII.     COMPARISON  OF  THE  SIGNED  WITH  THE  UN- 
SIGNED  ANSWERS,  AND  OF   THE   ANSWERS 
TO  THE  FIRST  WITH  THE  ANSWERS  TO  THE 
SECOND  REQUESTS 
Although  signatures  were  not  requested,  a  large 
number  of  the  respondents  put  their  names  to  their 
answers.     In  every  group  the  proportion  of  signa- 
tures among  the  answers  to  the  first  request  is  con- 
siderably  larger  than  among  the   answers  to   the 
second.'"    This  might  have  been  foreseen,  for  many 


The  italics  are  mine. 

The  percentages  of  signed  answers  to  the  first  and  to  the 


THE  STATISTICS  273 

who  waited  for  the  second  appeal  must  have  an- 
swered reluctantly. 

Who  are  most  likely  to  sign,  unasked,  a  statement 
of  religious  belief?  Not  those  in  disagreement  with 
officially  accredited  convictions.  Chart  X  shows 
what  a  strong  influence  upon  the  readiness  to  sign 
the  answers  is  exerted  by  the  thought  of  orthodox 
opinion.  In  every  group  the  proportion  of  believ- 
ers is  much  larger  among  those  who  signed  than 
among  those  who  did  not.  The  figures  for  the  his- 
torians show  the  greatest  difference;  they  are  66.7 
per  cent,  for  the  believers  who  signed  the  Q.,  and 
38.9  per  cent,  for  the  believers  who  did  not.  The 
disbelieving  greater  men  do  not  evince  a  greater 
readiness  to  disclose  their  identity  than  their  less 
illustrious  confreres.  Of  the  signed  answers  from 
greater  historians,  only  38.9  per  cent,  are  from  dis- 
believers or  doubters. 

Men  who  do  not  chose  to  put  their  signatures 
to  their  heterodox  opinions  when  replying  to  a 
scientific  inquiry,  are  not  likely  to  announce  these 
opinions  to  the  orthodox  people  among  whom  they 
may  live.  On  the  other  hand,  believers  who,  unre- 
quested,  sign  their  answers,  are  just  as  unlikely  to 
conceal  their  orthodox  opinions  from  their  neigh- 
bors. I  have  already  referred  to  the  result  of  such 
a  condition,  namely,  the  far  reaching  and  misleading 
exaggeration  of  the  number  of  believers. 


second  requests  were,  for  the  scientists  of  division  II,  respec- 
tively, 41.9  per  cent,  and  21.4  per  cent.;  for  the  historians, 
41.6  per  cent,  and  13.9  per  cent.;  and  for  the  sociologists, 
33. G  per  cent,  and  27.1  per  cent. 


274 


GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 


CHART  X 

THE  SIGNED 

AND  UNSIGNED 

ANSWERS 

Believers 

Agnostics 
Disbelievers     or 

Doubters 

Non- 
believers 

^Lesser. . 

...{ 

60.7 
34.9 

26.9 
44.9 

12.4 
20.1 

.  .  . 

•43  g 

§•2  Greater. 

••{ 

34.6 
23.5 

46.2 
55.1 

19.2 
21.4 

S 

Both.... 

r 

51.1 

34. 

14.9 

48.9 

-i 

30.4 

48.9 

20.6 

69.5 

Lesser. . 

■■■{ 

70. 
58.1 

26.7 
39.7 

3.3 
2.3 

0  Greater. 

■■•{ 

51.1 
23.1 

33.3 
53.9 

5.6 
23.1 

Both 

••■{ 

66.7 

29.2 

4.2 

33.3 

38.9 

47.4 

13.6 

61.1 

Lesser. . 

■■•{ 

35.7 
19.4 

57.1 
61.3 

7.1 
19.4 

•    •   • 

0  Greater. 

0 
.1-1 

^^■{ 

66.7 
48.8 

25.6 
33.8 

7.7 
17.5 

"  Both.... 

r 

58.5 

33.9 

7.5 

41.5 

... 

40.5 

41.4 

18. 

59.5 

Notes : — The  figures  in  this  table  are  percentages 
of  the  total  number  of  lesser  or  of  greater  men,  or 
of  both,  as  the  case  may  be. 

The  upper  figure,  in  each  group  of  two,  refers  to 
the  signed,  the  lower  to  the  unsigned  answers. 


THE  STATISTICS  275 

I  have  explained  elsewhere  that  it  was  necessary 
to  send  out  the  Q.  twice.  It  occurred  to  me  that  a 
comparison  of  the  prompt  with  the  tardy  answers 
might  reveal  intresting  information  on  the  attitude 
of  the  respondents.  One  would  suppose  that  per- 
sons with  clear  and  sharply  defined  views,  whether 
positive  or  negative,  would  be  the  more  likely  to 
answer  at  the  first  request,  while  those  with  vague 
and  uncertain  opinions  would  be  tempted  to  pro- 
crastinate. The  figures  do  not  bear  out  very 
definitely  this  conjecture. 

VIII.     SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSIONS  FROM  THE 

STATISTICS 

Although  I  have  already  drawn  attention  to  the 
most  striking  results  of  this  statistical  inquiry  and 
to  their  significance,  a  brief  summary  and  some  ad- 
ditional comments  seem  to  be  required  in  this  place. 

I  have  claimed  that  the  investigation  provides 
relatively  exact  information  concerning  the  beliefs 
in  God  and  in  immortality  of  college  students  and  of 
several  classes  of  men  of  high  attainments.  I  have 
further  claimed  that  this  information  is  valid  for 
all  students  in  the  non-technical  departments  of 
.American  colleges  and  universities  of  the  first  rank, 
when  the  first  rank  is  taken  to  mean  approximately 
the  upper  third  of  all  recognized  colleges;  and  for 
all  the  American  scientists,  historians,  sociologists, 
and  psychologists,  when  these  designations  are  used 
in  as  broad  a  sense  as  by  the  official  organizations  of 
these  different  groups. 

This  second  claim  need  not  be  accepted  merely  on 
the  strength  of  the  affirmation  of  statisticians  who 


276  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

declare  that  the  fractions  of  the  whole  groups  upon 
which  our  several  investigations  bear  are  sufficient 
to  make  the  results  representative  of  the  entire 
groups.  The  1000  scientists  to  whom  the  ques- 
tionnaires were  to  be  sent  were  separated  into  two 
divisions  of  500  each.  A  comparison  of  these  two 
divisions  (chart  IV)  provides  adequate  justification 
for  the  claim  that  our  figures  are  valid  —  with  un- 
important variations — for  all  those  whose  names 
are  included  in  American  Men  of  Science,  i.  e.,  for 
practically  every  American  who  may  at  all  properly 
be  called  a  scientist. 

If,  in  the  case  of  the  scientists,  we  may  take  the 
statistics  of  1000  as  representative  of  5500,  we  may 
a  fortiori  accept  the  other  statistics  as  representing 
the  whole  of  each  group,  since  in  each  the  propor- 
tion upon  which  the  investigation  bears  is  larger 
than  in  the  case  of  the  scientists.  While  for  these 
the  proportion  is  only  17  per  cent.,  for  the  histor- 
ians, it  is  54  per  cent.;  for  the  sociologists,  34  per 
cent. ;  and  for  the  psychologists,  56  per  cent. 

The  representative  nature  of  our  statistics  invests 
them  with  a  great  significance,  for  if  these  groups 
of  men  do  not  include  all  the  intellectual  leaders 
of  the  United  States,  they  certainly  include  the 
great  majority  of  them.  The  expression  *'  intellect- 
ual "  leader  should  not  by  any  means  be  construed  as 
a  disclaimer  of  the  importance  of  the  moral  in- 
fluence exerted  by  these  men.  Most  of  them  are 
teachers  in  schools  of  higher  learning.  In  that 
capacity  they  should  be,  and  doubtless  are,  in  a  very 
real  sense,  moral  leaders.    There  is  no  class  of  men 


THE  STATISTICS  277 

who,  on  the  whole,  rival  them  for  the  influence  ex- 
erted upon  the  educated  public  and  upon  the  young 
men  from  whom  are  to  come  most  of  the  leaders  of 
the  next  generation. 

What,  then,  is  the  main  outcome  of  this  research? 
Chart  XI  (Partial  Summary  of  Results)  shows  that 
in  every  class  of  persons  investigated,  the  number 
of  believers  in  God  is  less,  and  in  most  classes  very 
much  less  than  the  number  of  non-believers,  and  that 
the  number  of  believers  in  immortality  is  somewhat 
larger  than  in  a  personal  God ;  that  among  the  more 
distinguished,  unbelief  is  very  much  more  frequent 
than  among  the  less  distinguished ;  and  finally  that 
not  only  the  degree  of  ability,  but  also  the  kind  of 
knowledge  possesed,  seems  significantly  related  to 
the  rejection  of  these  beliefs. 

The  correlation  shown,  without  exception,  in 
every  one  of  our  groups  between  eminence  and  dis- 
belief appears  to  me  of  momentous  significance.  In 
three  of  these  groups  (biologists,  historians,  and 
psychologists)  the  number  of  believers  among  the 
men  of  greater  distinction  is  only  half,  or  less  than 
half  the  number  of  believers  among  the  less  distin- 
guished men.  I  do  not  see  any  way  to  avoid  the 
conclusion  that  disbelief  in  a  personal  God  and  in 
personal  immortality  is  directly  proportional  to 
abilities  making  for  success  in  the  sciences  in  ques- 
tion. What  these  abilities  are,  we  shall  see  in  the 
following  chapter. 

A  study  of  the  charts,  with  regard  to  the  kind 
of  knowledge  which  favors  disbelief  shows  that  the 
historians  and  the  physical  scientists  provide  the 


278 


GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 


D 

to 


Co 


t>1 

I 


C3 


I 

3 

?0 


is  ?i 


I 


^ 

•^ 


^ 

^ 


HISTORIANS 


~tA        ^ 


§ 


PHySICAL  SCIENTISTS 


BIOLOGICAL  SC\ 


S0CI0L06I5T5 

T   j |[  1 

PSYCHOLOGISTS 


i'       ro       Cm      "^ 
^      o      «2>      <::i 


^ 


0^ 


HI  STORIANS 


PHYSICAL  SCIENTISTS 


BIOIOS.SC] 


SOCIOLOGISTS 

N 
O 


03 
O 


^ 

o 


I 


THE  STATISTICS  279 

greater;  and  the  psychologists,  the  sociologists  and 
the  biologists,  the  smaller  number  of  believers.    The 
explanation   I  have  offered   is   that  psychologists, 
sociologists,  and  biologists  in  very  large  numbers 
recognize  fixed  orderliness  in  organic  and  psychical 
life,  and  not  merely  in  inorganic  existence;  while 
frequently  physical  scientists  recognize  the  presence 
of  invariable  law  in  the  inorganic  would  only.    The 
belief  in  a  personal  God  as  defined  for  the  purpose  of 
our  investigation  is,  therefore,  less  often  possible  to 
students  of  psychical  and  of  organic  life  than  to 
physical  scientists. 

The  place  occupied  by  the  historians  next  to  the 
physical    scientists    would    indicate    that,    for    the 
present,  the  reign  of  law  is  not  so  clearly  revealed  in 
the  events  with  which  history  deals  as  in  biology, 
economics,   and   psychology.     A  large  number  of 
historians  continue  to  see  the  hand  of  God  in  human 
affairs.     The  influence,  destructive  of  Christian  be- 
liefs, attributed  in  this  interpretation  to  more  inti- 
mate knowledge  of  organic  and  psychical  life,  ap- 
pears incontrovertibly,  as  far  as  psychical  life  is 
concerned,  in  the  remarkable  fact  that  whereas  in 
every  other  group  the  number  of  believers  in  im- 
mortality is  greater  than  that  in  God,  among  the 
spychologists  the  reverse  is  true ;  the  number  of  be- 
lievers in  immortality  among  the  greater  psycholo- 
gists sinks  to  8.8  per  cent.    One  may  affirm  it  seems 
that,  in  general,  the  greater  the  ability  of  the  psy- 
chologist as  a  psychologist,  the  more  difficult  it  be- 
come for  him  to  believe  in  the  continuation  of  in- 
dividual life  after  bodily  death. 


280  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

The  students'  statistics  show  that  young  people 
enter  college  possessed  of  the  beliefs  still  accepted, 
more  or  less  perfunctorily,  in  the  average  home  of 
the  land,  and  that  as  their  mental  powers  mature 
and  their  horizon  widens,  a  large  percentage  of  them 
abandon  the  cardinal  Christian  beliefs.  It  seems 
probable  that  on  leaving  college,  from  40  to  45  per 
cent,  of  the  students  with  whom  we  are  concerned 
deny  or  doubt  the  fundamental  dogmas  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion.  The  marked  decrease  in  belief  that 
takes  place  during  the  later  adolescent  years,  in 
those  who  spend  those  years  in  study  under  the  in- 
fluence of  persons  of  high  culture,  is  a  portentous 
indication  of  the  fate  which,  according  to  our  sta- 
tistics, increased  knowledge  and  the  possession  of 
certain  capacities  leading  to  eminence  reserve  to  the 
beliefs  in  a  personal  God  and  in  personal  immor- 
tality. 

The  situation  revealed  by  the  present  statistical 
studies  demands  a  revision  of  public  opinion  regard- 
ing the  prevalence  and  the  future  of  the  two  cardi- 
nal beliefs  of  official  Christianity,  and  shows  the  fu- 
tility of  the  efforts  of  those  who  would  meet  the 
present  religious  crisis  by  devising  a  more  efficient 
organization  and  cooperation  of  the  churches,  or 
more  attractive  social  features,  or  even  a  more  com- 
plete consecration  of  the  church  membership  to  Its 
task.  The  essential  problem  facing  organized  Chris- 
tianity is  constituted  by  the  wide-spread  rejection  of 
its  two  fundamental  dogmas — a  rejection  apparently 
destined  to  extend  parallel  with  the  diffusion  of 
knowledge  and  the  intellectual  and  more  qualities 
that  make  for  eminence  in  scholarly  pursuits. 


CHAPTER  X 

INDIVIDUALISM  AS  A  CAUSE  OF  THE  RE- 
JECTION OF  TRADITIONAL  BELIEFS 

It  is  commonly  supposed  that  knowledge  and  de- 
sire determine  belief.  This  is  substantially  true  only 
of  the  classes  of  beliefs  not  backed  by  some  form 
of  social  sanction — supposing  there  be  any  such. 
When  we  say  that  we  are  social  beings  we  mean, 
among  other  things,  that  we  hold  opinions  which  we 
have  neither  established  nor  critically  examined, 
and  that  we  are  guided  by  aims  which  correspond 
more  to  the  needs  of  society  than  to  our  natural  in- 
dividual inclinations.  The  few  who  markedly  de- 
part from  this,  the  way  of  social  life,  are  pilloried  as 
iconoclasts  and  rebels,  or  lauded  as  innovators  and 
reformers.  But  not  even  these  escape  the  power  of 
social  forces.  The  most  they  may  claim  is  to  be 
freer  than  others  from  the  pressure  of  social  con- 
victions and  practices,  and  to  determine  to  a  greater 
degree  their  beliefs  and  conduct  according  to  their 
own  nature  and  critical  knowledge. 

How  compelling  the  prestige  and  the  power  of 
political  and  religious  bodies,  and  how  independent 
their  influence  may  be  of  the  personal  inclinations 
of  the  individual  and  of  rational  knowledge,  appears 
perhaps  sufficiently  on  a  survey  of  the  geographical 
distribution  of  political  and  religious  convictions. 
A  mere  boundary  line  separates  Christians  from 

281 


282  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

Buddhists,  or  the  admirers  of  a  king  from  his  bitter 
detractors — this,  even  though  little  or  no  differ- 
ence in  culture  or  in  temperament  or  in  moral  likes 
and  dislikes  differentiates  the  populations.  The 
influence  of  social  forces  in  the  establishment  of  be- 
liefs should  be  kept  in  mind  in  attempting  to  ac- 
count for  their  disappearance. 

No  one,  I  think,  will  be  disposed  to  contradict  me 
when  I  affirm  that  the  loss  of  belief  accompanying 
collegiate  progress  (charts  I,  II)  can  hardly  be  due 
to  a  decrease  of  a  genuine  desire  for  an  immortal 
life  in  heaven.  The  students  in  the  lower  classes 
do  not  yearn  for  the  angelic  life  more  acutely  and 
generally  than  those  in  the  higher  classes.  In  any 
case,  the  statistics  would  not  bear  out  that  explana- 
tion. Is  it,  then,  the  clearer  realization  of  the 
absence  of  sufficient  evidence  for  immortality  and 
of  the  strength  of  the  objections  to  it,  which  break 
down  the  traditional  faith  of  many  students  as  they 
pass  on  to  the  higher  classes?  To  a  certain  extent, 
yes.  But  certainly  not  that  alone.  Direct  argu- 
ments for  or  against  immortality  have  affected  but 
little  even  the  older  of  these  students.  The  propor- 
tions of  juniors  and  of  seniors  who  declare  that  they 
have  never  considered  the  arguments  for  immortal- 
ity are  almost  the  same  as  that  of  the  freshmen  and 
of  the  sophomores. 

The  chief  influence  on  the  decrease  of  belief 
among  older  students  should  be  ascribed,  in  my 
opinion,  to  the  gain  in  independence  which  is  a  nor- 
mal result  of  growth  and  education.  Young  people 
enter  college  with  few  opinions  that  may  be  called 


THE  CHIEF  CAUSE  OF  DISBELIEF     283 

their  own ;  they  are  echoes  of  their  social  world.    In 
college,  they  take  fuller  cognizance  of  their  powers 
as   independent  individuals,   they  learn  to   detach 
themselves  in  thought  from  the  various  social  groups 
to   which   they   have   belonged    or   to    which   they 
actually   belong.     They   begin   to    react   upon   the 
traditional  environment  with  the  energy  of  their 
newly  found  individuality.    A  serious  crisis  is  often 
passed  through  at  this  period,  during  which  they 
are  sorely  tempted  to  make  a  tahula  rasa  of  the 
"  rubbish  "  with  which  they  find  themselves  loaded 
—and  little  is  there  which  in  their  impatience  of 
restrait  and  in  the  conceit  of  their  ignorance  they 
would  not  wipe  out  with  that  epithet. 

The  presence  of  a  powerful  impulse  to  self-affirma- 
tion and  independence  is,  it  seems  to  me,  revealed 
incontrovertibly  in  chart  I  where  men  and  women 
are   compared.     Why    are   there   82   per   cent     of 
female  believers  in  God  and  only  56  per  cent,  of 
male*^    It  is  not  because  the  latter  are  in  possession 
of  information  unknown  to  the  former.    They  be- 
long to  the  same  colleges,  attend  the  same  courses, 
and  move  in  the  same  social  circles.    The  main  cause 
of  the  differences  is  to  be  found,  I  hold,  m  the 
greater  readiness  of  men  to  break  from  tradition. 
Whether  it  is  a  secondary  sex  difference  or  merely 
the  product  of  her  education  and  social  position, 
the  greater  conservatism  of  woman  is  not  seriously 
contested.     One  of  its  consequences  in  the  sphere 
of  religion  is  that  just  attributed  to  it:  during  the 
years  of  adolescent  self-affirmation  the  desires  for 
intellectual  freedom  and  for  a  rational  organization 


284  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

of  opinions  and  conduct  are  in  young  women  more 
effectively  balked  than  in  young  men  by  the  tender 
ties  of  the  home  and  the  authority  of  the  church. 

The  greater  aversion  of  women  to  breaking  with 
their  social  group — an  aversion  which  makes  them 
more  impervious  to  information  threatening  them 
with  isolation — is  an  aspect  of  their  greater  tender- 
ness and  conscious  weakness.  Other  things  being 
equal,  the  readiness  to  break  with  one's  social  circle 
and  one's  past  is  inversely  proportional  to  love  for 
and  dependence  upon  that  circle  and  that  past.  One 
may  therefore  say,  as  I  did  when  discussing  chart  I, 
that  the  greater  proportion  of  women  believers  is  an 
expression  of  their  greater  need  of  affection  and  of 
their  clearer  consciousness  of  dependence. 

When  denying  to  knowledge  the  principle  share  in 
the  maintenance  of  the  beliefs  with  which  we  are 
concerned,  we  should  not  forget  that  the  aggress- 
ively self-reliant  person  is  more  likely  to  scrutinize 
the  foundation  of  the  faith  urged  upon  him  and  to 
look  for  or  at  least  to  pay  attention  to  facts  and  argu- 
ments in  support  of  other  possible  faiths.  But  know- 
ledge thus  gained  is  to  be  referred  to  that  indepen- 
dence which  appears  to  me  the  fundamental  cause  of 
the  difference  of  belief  we  have  discovered.  The  more 
fundamental  thing  to  bear  in  mind  is,  I  repeat,  not 
any  possible  inferiority  in  point  of  knowledge,  but 
a  difference  in  attitude  and  disposition  towards  the 
established  order  of  things.  As  to  the  relation  of 
knowledge  itself  to  belief,  it  is  a  common-place  of 
psychology  that  conviction  is  not  a  function  of 
knowledge  alone,  but  is  dependent  in  a  very  sub- 


THE  CHIEF  CAUSE  OF  DISBELIEF     285 

stantial  way  upon  inclination.  Much  of  what  we 
know  never  finds  its  logical  place  in  our  conscious- 
ness ;  whereas  other  items  of  knowledge  lend  to  prop- 
ositions towards  which  we  incline  far  greater  weight 
than  legitimately  belongs  to  them. 

If  now  we  turn  to  the  statistics  that  deal  with  men 
of  different  degrees  of  eminence,  we  shall  again  be 
led  to  ascribe  the  more  fundamental  influence  in 
the  production  of  differences  in  the  number  of  be- 
lievers, to  intellectual  and  moral  independence  and 
therefore  to  whatever  permits  or  fosters  that  inde- 
pendence. Greater  eminence  implies,  doubtless, 
greater  knowledge  in  the  field  of  eminence  and  fre- 
quently also  outside  of  it.  But  this  does  not  mean 
that  the  loss  of  belief  accompanying  eminence  arises 
entirely  or  even  chiefly  from  greater  knowledge. 
The  reward  of  eminence  is  not  usually  given  for  mere 
knowledge  and  sheer  intellectual  ability ;  the  measure 
of  native  intellectual  capacity  is  far  from  being 
always  in  direct  relation  to  the  social  and  scientific 
standing  attained.  The  qualities  we  have  just  as- 
signed in  larger  degree  to  men  than  to  wom.en  are, 
in  the  careers  followed  by  the  persons  included  in 
our  statistics,  foremost  factors  among  those  leading 
to  eminence.  The  men  of  higher  rank  are,  on  the 
whole,  distinguished  among  their  colleagues  for 
activity,  tenacity,  initiative,  and  self-reliance.'     Of 


^  I  purposely  leave  out  of  consideration  certain  moral  qual- 
ities that  are  not  pertinent  to  our  discussion.  In  English  Men 
of  Genius,  page  92,  Sir  Francis  Galton,  wrote,  "The  first  of 
the  qualities  of  especial  service  to  scientific  men  is  independ- 
ence of  character.  Fifty  of  my  correspondents  show  that 
they  possess  it  in  excess,  and  in  two  only  is  it  below  par." 


286  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

these  qualities,  at  least  the  last  two  tend  to  resist 
the  forces  of  tradition,  of  authority,  and  of  prestige, 
as  well  as  to  increase  knowledge. 

The  restraining  influence  of  early  moral  training 
and  of  public  opinion  has  been  brought  out  in  the 
discussion  of  the  signatures  and  of  the  comments 
accompanying  the  answers  to  our  questionnaire. 
At  the  same  time  we  have  realized  that  a  certain 
callousness  making  for  affective  freedom  from  kith 
and  kin,  for  love  of  the  naked  truth  and  sharply  de- 
fined situations,  and  a  courageous  impatience  with 
the  bonds  that  would  tie  us  to  the  past  and  retard 
the  movement  forward  and  upward,  enter  as  fre- 
quent and  powerful  factors  in  the  determination  of 
the  opinions  of  our  scientific  men.  Possession  in 
reasonable  degree  of  these  qualities,  antagonistic  to 
the  traditional  and  the  orthodox,  is  incontestably 
favorable  to  success  in  the  careers  followed  by  the 
classes  of  men  with  whom  we  have  been  occupied. 
I  conclude,  therefore,  that  the  greater  loss  of  belief 
suffered  by  the  greater  men  is  probably  not  to  be 
ascribed  chiefly  to  their  greater  knowledge,  but 
rather  to  certain  temperamental  qualities  or  ener- 
gies which  make  it  relatively  easy  for  them  to  rid 
themselves  of  much  of  the  social  pressure  to  which 
others  yield. 

The  action  of  the  qualities  singled  out  is  favored 
by  the  social  environment  to  which  the  person  who 
has  reached  distinction  is  usually  transported.  He 
finds  himself  removed  from  lower  circles  where  tra- 
dition holds  undisputed  sway.  Around  him  intel- 
lectual freedom  is  honored  far  above  orthodoxy. 


THE  CHIEF  CAUSE  OF  DISBELIEF     287 

So  that  those  who  fill  the  places  that  fall  to  the  lot 
of  distinguished  men  of  science  are  relieved  of  much 
of  the  pressure  which  bears  upon  their  less  favored 
colleagues.  If,  furthermore,  the  greater  men  issue 
predominantly  from  eminent  families,  they  have 
been  from  their  early  years  freer  than  the  lesser  men 
from  the  influence  usually  exerted  upon  youth  by 
narrow  traditional  opinion.  In  a  struggle  against 
the  forces  of  tradition,  the  greater  men  would  thus 
be  doubly  favored. 

How  shall  we  account,  now,  for  the  differences  in 
belief  among  the  lesser  men  and  the  greater  men 
themselves?  Within  these  subdivisions  as  between 
them,  the  existing  difference  in  distinction  rest  in 
part  upon  the  qualities  I  have  singled  out;  I  see, 
therefore,  no  reason  for  giving  a  separate  answer 
to  this  second  part  of  the  problem. 

But  why  should  greater  moral  and  intellectual 
independence  result  in  the  rejection  of  the  beliefs 
with  which  we  have  been  concerned,  instead  of  lifting 
them  up  to  the  level  of  truly  personal,  critically 
established  convictions?  When  the  grounds  of  belief 
are  insufficient  to  mee  the  requirement  of  an  inde- 
pendent mind,  then  independence  leads  either  to  the 
rejection  of  the  belief  or  to  agnosticism. 


PART  III 

OF  THE  PRESENT  UTILITY  OF  THE  BE- 

LIEFS  IN  PERSONAL  IMMORTALITY 

AND  IN  A  PERSONAL  GOD 


INTRODUCTORY 

The  outcome  of  the  foregoing  study  of  the  origin 
of  modern  immortality,  of  the  metaphysical  argu- 
ments adduced  in  its  support,  and  of  the  statistics 
of  belief  in  it,  is  that  it  rests  not  upon  any  scien- 
tifically established  fact  or  convincing  argument, 
but  upon  the  usefulness  rightly  or  wrongly  ascribed 
to  it.  Faith  in  the  hereafter  must  therefore  justify 
itself  by  its  utility.  Is  humanity  better  off  with 
than  without  that  belief?  That  is  the  form  which 
the  problem  assumes.  We  are  not  to  consider 
only  the  direct  loss,  but  also  any  effect  which  its 
surrender  may  entail.  Like  a  physical  object,  if 
in  another  sense,  a  belief  fills  a  place  which  no  other 
belief  can  occupy.  It  has  to  be  removed  before  an- 
other can  flourish  in  its  place.  The  value  of  new 
beliefs,  made  possible  by  the  disappearance  of  the 
old,  is,  therefore,  a  constituent  part  of  our  problem. 

Although  I  have  come  to  hold  that,  in  so  far 
as  the  most  civilized  nations  are  concerned,  the 
modern  belief  in  immortality  costs  more  than  it 
is  worth,  I  do  not,  of  course,  claim  the  ability  to 
prove  this  opinion  to  the  satisfaction  of  everybody. 
An  exhaustive  treatment  of  the  subject  would, 
furthermore,  be  impossible  here.  I  shall  limit  my- 
self to  the  presentation  of  certain  weighty  facts 
and  considerations.  They  indicate  that  the  utility  of 
the  belief  in  immortality  to  civilized  nations  is  much 
more  limited  than  is  commonly  supposed ;  and  that, 

290 


WHAT  IS  THEIR  UTILITY?  ^^^ 

if  we  bring  into  the  calculation  all  the  consequences 
of  the  belief,  and  not  merely  its  grttifying  effect,  we 
may  even  be  brougt  to  conclude  that  its  disappear- 
ance from  among  the  most  civilized  nations  would 
be,  on  the  whole,  a  again.' 

The  situation  revealed  in  the  preceding  pages 
would  be  a  hopeless  one  if  those  were  right  who  hold 
that  utter  pessismism  and  moral  decay  would  be  the 
price  paid  for  the  surrender  of  immortality.  '*  No 
sooner  do  we  try  to  get  rid  of  the  idea  of  immortal- 
ity," writes  Emerson,  *'  that  Pessimism  raises  its 
head.  .  .  .  Human  griefs  seem  little  worth  assuaging ; 
human  happiness  too  paltry  (at  best)  to  be  worth  in- 
creasing. The  whole  moral  world  is  reduced  to  a 
point.  Good  and  evil,  right  and  wrong,  become  in- 
finitesimal, ephemeral  matters.  The  affections  die 
away — die  of  their  own  conscious  feebleness  and 
uselessness.    A  moral  paralysis  creeps  over  us,"  * 


^  Inasmuch  as  a  similar  problem  exists  with  regard  to  the 
belief  in  a  personal  God,  and  as  these  beliefs  usually  dis- 
appear altogether,  I  shall  refer  to  both  of  them  when  the 
argument  applies  to  both. 

The  metaphysically  inclined  is  referred  to  discussions  of 
the  value  of  belief  in  God  in  McTaggart's  Some  Doginas 
of  Religion  ("Theism  and  Happiness"),  and  in  Hocking's 
The  Meaning  of  God  in  Religious  Experience  ("  The  Need 
of  God"). 

^  As  quoted  in  the  article,  "  Immortality,"  11th  edition  of 
Ency.  Brit.,  I  was  not  able  to  find  this  passage  in  Emerson's 
writings. 

Alfred  Tennyson  is  reported  by  his  son  (Vol.  II  of  A 
Memoir,  London,  1897)  as  follows,  "  The  life  after  death, 
Lightfoot  and  I  agree,  is  the  cardinal  point  of  Christianity." 
P.  420. 

See   R.   S.   Ellis,  "  The  Attitude   Toward   Death   and   the 


292  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

Were  this  true,  it  were  better  for  this  book  never  to 
have  been  written ;  and  the  attitude  to  be  commended 
in  the  presence  of  this  great  problem  would  not  be 
the  one  of  the  fearless  inquirer,  but  that  of  the  os- 
trich. But  is  the  modern  belief  in  immortality 
really  necessary  in  order  to  make  this  life  worth  liv- 
ing; do  we  lose  with  it  all  possibility  of  living  justly, 
generously,  and  beautifully? 

The  burden  of  the  verification  of  this  direful  pre- 
diction may  quite  properly  be  left  to  those  who  make 
it.  They  might  point  to  shocking  instances  of 
moral  wretchedness  in  unbelievers,  quite  regardless 
of  other  unbelievers  who  are  models  of  cheerful  cour- 
age and  useful  citizenship ;  and  they  might  instance 
the  atrocious  deeds  of  communities  which  have  open- 
ly rejected  the  beliefs  with  which  we  are  concerned, 
as  France  during  the  Great  Revolution.  But  the  dem- 
onstration of  a  causal  relation  between  the  rejection 
of  God  and  immortality  and  the  wickedness  of  a 
historical  period  is  not  made  by  the  discovery  of  this 
coincidence.  It  would  be  just  as  plausible  to  attrib- 
ute to  unbelief  the  noble  principles  and  the  great 
social  reforms  of  the  French  Revolution. 

When  confronted  with  the  discovery  that  consid- 
erably more  than  half  of  all  the  men  included  in  our 
investigation,  and  over  two-thirds  of  the  more  emi- 
nent of  these,  are  non-believers  in  personal  immortal- 
ity and  in   God,  what  will  these  pessimists  say? 


Types  of  Belief  in  Immortality."  Jr.  of  Relig.,  Psy.,  VII,  1915, 
466-510. 

O.  Lowes  Dickinson,  "  Is  Immortality  Desirable"?  Boston, 
1909. 

Coe's  "  The  Psychology  of  Religion,  Chap.  XVII. 


WHAT  IS  THEIR  UTILITY?  293 

They  may  repeat  the  well-worn,  although  never  veri- 
fied affirmations  that  unbelievers  are  saved  by  the 
leaven  of  believers,  and  that  only  men  of  great  intelli- 
gence can  dispense  with  these  beliefs.  But  that 
which  these  and  other  facts,  soon  to  be  mentioned, 
may  be  taken  to  demonstrate  is  rather  that  the  moral 
leaven  is  to-day  in  civilized  lands  provided  to  a  very 
considerable  extent  by  the  unbelievers  themselves. 

Nothing  is  more  open  to  suspicion  than  the  feeling 
of  certitude  with  which  it  is  common  to  affirm  that 
this  or  that  moral  or  material  possession  is  necessary 
to  one's  well  being.  The  true  value  of  a  possession 
is  usually  revealed  only  by  its  loss.  We  may  find 
that  to  be  deprived  of  it  is  a  blessing  in  disguise,  even 
as  Silas  Marner  discovered  after  the  disappearance 
of  his  gold  that  there  were  immeasurably  greater 
treasures  than  those  to  which  he  had  until  then  given 
his  heart.  Against  those  who  assume  the  validity 
of  the  feeling  of  the  necessity  of  another  life  in  order 
to  live  out  this  life  worthily  and  in  contentment,  rise 
the  numberless  instances  of  those  who,  having  cher- 
ished that  conviction  and  lost  it,  found  themselves 
ultimately  none  the  poorer.  That  opinion  is  also 
contradicted  by  the  growing  number  of  eminent 
moral  teachers  who  condemn  the  clinging  to  personal 
existence  after  death  as  a  hindrance  to  the  best  life 
on  earth. 

The  alleged  necessity  of  the  beliefs  in  God  and  im- 
mortality need  not  arrest  us  longer.  The  only  ques- 
tion deserving  consideration  is  that  of  the  loss  that 
may  be  entailed  or,  perchance,  the  gain  that  may  be 
made  by  their  surrender. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  DESIRE  FOR  IMMORTALITY  AND 
THE  USEFULNESS  OF  THE  BELIEF 

We  have  seen  that  in  Christian  countries  immor- 
tality is  far  from  being  a  universal  object  of  desire. 
Very  little  more  than  half  the  students  in  investiga- 
tion B  ascribed  to  the  belief  in  immortality  a  serious 
practical  importance  (chart  II).  Among  the  lesser 
scientists  of  the  second  division,  21.5  per  cent,  an- 
nounced the  absence  of  the  desire,  and  38.7  per  cent, 
a  moderate  desire,  while  among  the  greater  men,  as 
many  as  35.5  per  cent,  disclaimed  any  desire  for  im- 
mortality, and  39.1  per  cent,  more  affirmed  a  mod- 
erate desire  only  (see  chart  VI,  p.  258).  Many  of 
the  believers  indicated  that  they  were  nevertheless 
quite  indifferent  to  the  belief ;  the  utterances  of  sev- 
eral of  these  have  been  quoted.  Among  the  psychol- 
ogists, 47.2  per  cent,  affirmed  the  absence  of  desire 
for  immortality.  These  figures  will  no  doubt  cause 
surprise,  for  it  is,  I  think,  generally  supposed  that 
even  the  disbelievers  yearn  for  it.  In  so  far  as  Schil- 
ler's figures  are  comparable,  they  confirm  mine.  He 
had  imagined  before  the  investigation  that  nearly 
everybody  must  feel  at  least  a  temporary  concern 
about  the  future  life.  His  returns  "  showed  com- 
paratively little  evidence  of  great  spiritual  revolu- 
tions and   still   less   of   any   considerable   anguish 

294 


WHAT  IS  THEIR  UTILITY?  295 

connected  with  them."  '  He  was  therefore  driven  to 
the  conclusion  that  *'  spiritual  crises  and  prolonged 
religious  excitements  are  the  prerogative  of  excep- 
tional temperaments;  ordinary  persons  seem  to  ad- 
just themselves  easily  and  rapidly  to  their  definite 
attitude."  My  own  inquiries  lead  to  the  same  con- 
clusion: they  are  rare  who  do  not  succeed  in  adjust- 
ing themselves  satisfactorily  to  the  loss  of  religious 
beliefs  once  held  to  be  absolutely  indispensable. 

Forty-three  per  cent,  of  the  men  and  22  per  cent, 
of  the  women  students  (investigation  A)  declare 
themselves  indifferent  to  the  existence  of  God.  These 
are  nearly  all  non-believers. 

The  great  discrepancy  between  the  actual  facts 
and  the  general  opinion  concerning  the  desire  for  and 
the  prevalence  of  the  beliefs  in  God  and  immortal- 
ity, is  readily  explained.  The  unbelievers  usually 
keep  their  opinions  to  themselves,  because  of  the  ob- 
loquy cast  upon  disbelievers,  and  because  the  ground 
for  their  unbelief  is  rarely  clearly  formulated  in  their 
own  minds.     The  believers,  convinced  as  they  are 

'  "  The  Answers  to  the  American  Branch  Questionnaire 
regarding  Human  Sentiment  as  to  a  Future  Life";  Pro.  Soc. 
Psy.  Research;  Part  49;  Vol.  XVIII;  pages  428,  429. 

Forty  per  cent,  only,  out  of  a  total  of  3321  answers,  gave 
an  affirmative  answer  to  the  query,  "  Do  you  now  feel  the 
question  of  a  future  life  to  be  of  urgent  importance  to  your 
mental  comfort?"  In  this  40  per  cent,  were  included  those 
"  who  had  never  entertained  a  doubt,  or  had  trained  them- 
selves to  regard  a  future  life  as  certain,  and  then  dismissed 
the  matter  from  their  minds."  Schiller  remarks  that  "  these 
had  to  be  counted  as  yesses,  especially  when  it  was  expressly 
stated  that  though  a  future  life  might  not  be  often  thought 
of,  yet  to  lose  this  assurance  would  amount  to  a  spiritual 
catastrophe."  The  "  noes,"  we  are  told,  are  often  of  a  very 
decided  character ;  "  not  at  all,"  "  not  in  the  least,"  "  never 
think  about  it,"  being  common  phrases. 


296  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

that  the  welfare  of  the  community  depends  upon 
these  beliefs,  drown  by  the  loudness  and  frequency 
of  their  affirmations  the  objections  offered  by 
the  most  assertive  of  the  unbelievers.  As  long  as  a 
few  hold  God  and  immortality  to  be  vital  beliefs, 
while  most  think  that  nothing  is  to  be  gained  by  their 
loss,  the  present  mistaken  opinion  concerning  their 
prevalence  and  potency  will  persist. 

Should  any  one  be  tempted  to  seek  the  cause  of  in- 
difference to  immortality  in  an  uneasy  consciene  or 
in  moral  obtuseness,  a  closer  examination  of  my  sta- 
tistical data  should  undeceive  him.  The  increase  in 
indifference  and  disbelief  accompanying  scientific 
eminence  and  collegiate  progress  is  decidedly  not 
compatible  with  that  explanation. 

Dislike  for  Immortality: — Not  only  is  it  true  that 
a  certain  number  of  believers  do  not  desire  immor- 
tality; but  a  relatively  considerable  number  of  un- 
believers and  perhaps  a  few  believers  abhor  the 
idea  of  endless  continuation.  Many  instances  of 
marked  dislike  for  immortality  have  been  recorded. 
I  select  the  following : — 

A  woman,  thirty  years  of  age,  declares  that  she 
"  has  always  felt  death  to  be  better  than  all,  and  the 
sight  of  death  does  not  weaken  the  pleasure  of  an- 
ticipating it  as  the  best  thing  life  has  to  offer ;  this 
sense  that  it  is  a  triumph,  is  not  born  of  theology  or 
distaste  for  life;  for  health,  surroundings,  joy  of  life 
have  always  been  of  the  best ;  there  is  no  thought  of 
anything  after  life,  but  death  itself  is  *  a  consumma- 
tion devoutly  to  be  wished.'  "  * 


President  G.  Stanley  Hall:  "A  Study  of  Fears";  Amer. 


WHAT  IS  THEIR  UTILITY?  297 

A  man,  twenty  years  old,  member  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  writes : — 

"  I  have  thought  about  immortality  considerably, 
but  it  does  not  cause  me  any  uneasiness  at  all.  I 
shall  be  content  to  die,  absolutely  dead,  and  pass  off 
into  nothing, — beautiful,  blessed,  peaceful  nothing, 
— when  I  do  die.  Of  course  I  love  life,  and  shall 
live  with  a  vim  as  long  as  I  can,  but  I  do  not  desire 
to  live  forever.  I  want  to  be  unconscious,  and  not 
even  know  that  it  is  *  I '  who  am  resting."  ' 
From  my  own  collection  I  take  this: — 
*'  For  some  cause  which  I  do  not  know  how  to  ex- 
plain, I  feel  a  great  dread  of  the  possibility  of  hav- 
ing to  live  forever,  or  even  again.  If  I  could  be  cer- 
tain that  at  death  I  would  find  oblivion,  it  would  add 
greatly  to  my  present  happiness."  * 

If  the  hope  of  immortality  has  often  been  the 

poet's  inspiration,  he  also  has  been  moved  by  the 

hope  of  annihilation : — 

"  From  too  much  love  of  living. 
From  hope  and  fear  set  free. 

We  thank  with  brief  thanksgiving 
Whatever  gods  may  be 

That  no  life  lives  forever; 

That  dead  men  rise  up  never; 

That  even  the  weariest  river 
Winds  somewhere  safe  to  sea. 

"  Then  star  nor  sun  shall  waken. 

Nor  any  change  of  light; 

Nor  sound  of  waters  shaken, 

Nor  any  sound  or  sight; 


Jr.  of  Psy.;  VIII;  1897.     Pages  221-224. 

•  J.  Morse  and  J.  Allen,  Jr. :  "  The  Religion  of  One  Hun- 
dred and  Twenty-six  College  Students  " ;  Jr.  of  Relig.  Psy- 
chol; 1913;  VII;  pages  175-194. 

*  Number  116  of  my  unpublished  documents. 


298  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

Nor  wintry  leaves  nor  vernal, 
Nor  days  nor  things  diurnal; 
Nor  the  sleep  eternal 
In  an  eternal  night."  " 

John  Addington  Symonds  echoed  in  prose  the 
same  sentiments : — 

"  Until  that  immortality  of  the  individual  is  ir- 
refragably  demonstrated,  the  sweet,  the  immeasur- 
ably precious  hope  of  ending  with  this  life,  the  ache 
and  languor  of  existence,  remains  open  to  burdened 
human  personalities/'  ' 

It  would  be  hard  for  those  who  in  discouragement 
and  sorrow  are  accustomed  to  find  comfort  in  the 
contemplation  of  an  eternity  of  bliss,  to  see  in  these 
instances  anything  more  than  an  expression  of 
moral  perversion.  I  do  not  think,  however,  that 
that  judgment  w^ould  fit  the  majority  of  the  wooers 
of  annihilation.  Yet  there  are  among  them  a  few 
clearly  abnormal  cases ;  this  one,  for  instance : — 

**  The  main  idea  by  which  I  am  tormented'is  that 
of  eternity;  ...  I  feel  time  lasting  indefinitely, 
space  lengthening  without  end,  something  like  a 
never  stopping  crescendo.  It  seems  to  me  that  my 
being  gradually  swells,  substitutes  itself  to  every- 
thing, grows  by  absorbing  worlds  and  centuries,  then 
bursts,  and  everything  ceases,  and  I  am  left  with  an 
atrocious  pain  in  the  head  and  in  the  stomach.  .  .  . 
It  is  eternity  which  is  frightful.  Something  with- 
out end,  how  horrible!     Everlasting  happiness,  and 


'  Swinburne,  "  The  Garden  of  Proserpina." 
'  From  a  letter  to  Henry  Sidgwick. 


WHAT  IS  THEIR  UTILITY?  299 

after?    Still  happiness,  and  after?    That  is  as  hor- 
rible as  everlasting  suffering."  ' 

One  is  not  even  at  liberty  to  suppose  that  an  un- 
usual degree  of  disillusionment  is  responsible  for 
aversion  to  a  future  life  in  the  physiologically  healthy 
and  morally  normal,  for  the  fading  away  of  the 
promises  of  early  life  should  rather  fix  one's  eyes 
more  firmly  upon  the  Perfect  Life;  modern  immor- 
tality has  sprung  precisely  from  dissatisfaction  with 
earthly  existence.  There  must  be  something  else 
that  accounts  for  the  difference  between  those  who 
crave  and  those  who  abhor  immortality.' 

But  why  seek  far  afield  for  an  explanation  of  the 
dislike  of  immortality?    A  weariness  of  existence, 


^  Pierre  Janet:  Les  Obsessions  et  la  Psychasthenie;  Vol.  I, 
pages  136,  137. 

*  If  abhorence  of  eternal  existence  of  any  conceivable  sort, 
is  after  all  exceptional  in  Christian  countries,  it  is  the  com- 
mon expectation  in  orthodox  Buddhism.  Nirvana,  to  which 
the  followers  of  Buddha  aspire,  is  a  state  from  which  all 
wickedness  and  corruption  have  departed  and  also  all  de- 
sires ;  individual  personality  has  disapeared  by  absorption  in 
the  All: 

"  And  being,  0  priests,  myself  subject  to  birth,  I  per- 
ceived the  wretchedness  of  what  is  subject  to  birth,  and  crav- 
ing the  incomparable  security  of  a  Nirvana  free  from  birth, 
I  attained  the  incomparable  security  of  a  Nirvana  free  from 
birth;  myself  subject  to  old  age,  .  .  .  disease,  .  .  .  death,  .  .  . 
sorrow,  .  .  .  corruption,  I  perceived  the  wretchedness  of  what 
is  subject  to  corruption,  and,  craving  the  incomparable  se- 
curity of  a  Nirvana  free  from  corruption,  I  attained  the 
incomparable  security  of  a  Nirvana  free  from  corruption. 
And  the  knowledge  and  the  insight  sprang  up  within  me, 
*  My  deliverance  is  unshakable ;  this  is  my  last  existence ;  no 
more  shall  I  be  born  again.'  And  it  occurred  to  me,  0  priests, 
as  follows: 

"  *  This  doctrine  to  which  I  have  attained  is  profound, 
recondite,  and  difficult  of  comprehension,  good,  excellent,  and 
not  to  be  reached  by  mere  reasoning,  subtil,  and  intelligible 
only  to  the  wise.    Mankind,  on  the  other  hand,  is  captivated, 


300  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

temperamental,  or  the  fruit  of  age '  or  of  other  cir- 
cumstances (but  no  necessarily  due  to  disillusion- 
ment) ;  a  disposition  to  enjoy  the  mood  that  informs 
Bryant's  noble  poem,  Thanatopsis;  and  especially, 
perhaps,  an  inability  to  picture  in  intelligible  and 
acceptable  form  a  future  life,  suffice  to  make  of  a 
death  that  ends  all,  an  acceptable,  even  a  desirable 
goal. 

If  no  one  can  be  indifferent  to  happiness,  one  may 
not  be  able  to  foresee  conditions  of  real  eternal  hap- 
piness. The  despisers  of  immortality  should  not  be 
thought  to  occupy  the  paradoxical  position  of 
rejecting  blessedness;  they  are  rather  not  able  to 
persuade  themselves  that  any  eternal  life  of  which 
they  can  conceive,  would  be  to  them  blessedness. 
This  is  an  important  and  a  neglected  aspect  of  the 
problem  of  immortality.  Outside  of  the  simple  folk 
who  accept  whole-heartedly  a  paradise  similar  to  the 
Garden  of  Eden,  with  God  walking  about  in  the  cool 
of  the  evening,  believers  in  personal  immortality 
find  themselves  hard  put  to  it  to  conceive  under  defi- 


entranced,  held  spell-bound  by  its  lusts;  and  forasmuch  as 
mankind  is  captivated,  entranced,  held  spell-bound  by  its 
lusts,  it  is  hard  for  them  ...  to  understand  how  all  the  con- 
stituents of  being  may  be  made  to  subside,  all  the  substrata 
of  being  be  relinquished,  and  desire  be  made  to  vanish,  and 
absence  of  passion,  cessation,  and  Nirvana  be  attained.' " 
Henry  Clarke  Warren:  Buddhism  in  Translations;  Vol.  Ill; 
1900.     Pages  338,  339. 

•  Colin  Scott  (Loc.  cit.,  page  91)  reports  the  opinion,  or 
rather  the  "  feeling,"  of  sixteen  old  persons  (average  age, 
seventy-six)  concerning  their  desire  for  life.  Ninety-four 
per  cent,  w^ould  not  like  to  live  over ;  seventy  per  cent,  long  to 
die.  Is  this  because  of  fatigue  with  this  life,  or  because  of 
the  hope  of  future  blessedness?  Indifference  to  the  other  life 
probably  keeps  pace  with  indifference  to  this.  Both  are  ex- 
pression of  weakened  desire. 


WHAT  IS  THEIR  UTILITY?  301 

nite  forms  a  never  ending  existence  neither  puerile 
nor  surfeiting.  The  imagery  of  the  New  Testament 
is  in  this  regard,  as  much  as  Dante's,  symbolic  or 
poetic.  The  fact  is  —  and  it  is  important  that  we 
should  realize  it  —  that  we  can  think  of  the  other 
life  as  eternal  blissfulness  only  on  condition  of  not 
insisting  upon  knowing  anything  specific  about  it. 
As  soon  as,  no  longer  satisfied  with  a  general  assur- 
ance of  unruffled  peace  and  unalloyed  enjoyment,  we 
demand  specifications,  we  find  ourselves  in  the  pres- 
ence of  ideas  and  pictures,  either  absurd  or  repulsive, 
or  void  of  real  attractiveness.  The  best  gifted  reli- 
gious seers  succeed  in  this  descriptive  task  no  better 
than  the  cleverest  mediums.  The  utter  failure  of  the 
latter  to  provide  anything  in  the  least  acceptable  in 
the  way  of  a  picture  of  the  other  world,  when  even 
moderate  success  would  make  their  fortune,  is  a 
striking  demonstration  of  the  necessity  for  those 
who  desire  immortality  of  being  content  with  a  bare 
assurance  of  happiness  and  to  be  wary  of  curiosity ; 
for  never  since  the  days  of  Pandora  was  there  a 
curiosity  more  surely  threatening  disaster. 

It  is  after  all  not  very  difl[icult  to  enter  into  the 
feelings  of  the  weary  earthly  traveler  who  prefers 
the  thought  of  extinction  at  death  to  the  risk  of  an 
endless  individual  existence  which,  the  more  care- 
fully he  seeks  to  picture  or  conceive,  the  less  attrac- 
tive it  becomes.  In  his  acute  study  of  the  desire  for 
immortality,  Schiller  noted  the  fact,  and  also  the 
freedom  with  which  many  make  use  of  the  belief 
when  and  how  it  pleases  them  and  forget  it  when  its 
remembrance  would  be  inconvenient :  — 


302  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

"  The  future  life  is  a  vision  that  floats  before  the 
eye  of  faith,  not  a  brutal  fact  to  be  thrust  upon  a 
reluctant  attention.  The  world  can  stomach  a  fu- 
ture life  so  discreetly  formulated."  Thinking  at 
times  about  heaven  and  hell,  liking  to  hear  an  occa- 
sional sermon  about  them,  *'  in  no  wise  implies  that 
they  are  taken  as  facts  and  must  be  acted  on  as 
such.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  just  because  the  re- 
ligious doctrines  of  Immortality  are  not  taken  as 
fact  .that  they  are  accepted.  .  .  .  Hence  the  re- 
ligious doctrines  with  respect  to  the  future  life  form 
a  sort  of  paper  currency,  inconvertible  with  facts, 
which  suits  people  and  circulates  the  better  because 
of  its  very  badness.  Their  function  is  to  conjure  up 
pleasing  and  consoling  visions  whenever  we  are  in  a 
mood  for  them,  to  provide  a  brighter  background  for 
life  than  sheer  extinction ;  but  they  are  not  allowed 
to  grow  insistent  enough  seriously  to  affect  ac- 
tion." '" 

The  very  significant  disposition  to  play  fast  and 
loose  with  immortality  appears  in  the  answers  to  this 
question  of  the  inquiry  of  the  Society  for  Psychical 
Research,  **  Would  you  like  to  know  for  certain 
about  the  future  life,  or  would  you  prefer  to  leave  it 
a  matter  of  faith?"  Only  21  per  cent,  out  of  a 
total  of  3218  may  be  credited  with  a  real  desire  for 
a  scientific  knowledge  of  the  possibility  of  a  future 
life,  while  23  per  cent,  voted  for  faith,  12.9  per  cent. 
for  ignorance,  and  3.3  per  cent,  declared  indiflfer- 
ence.  Definite  knowledge  might  not  meet  all  our  de- 
sires ;  it  certainly  would  not  leave  us  the  freedom  we 


Humanism:  London;  1903.     Pages  239,  240. 


WHAT  IS  THEIR  UTILITY?  303 

enjoy  when  immortality  is  a  matter  of  faith,  or  one 
of  which  we  are  ignorant." 

In  any  case,  it  is  a  fact,  as  President  Stanley  Hall 
remarks,  that  ''  even  those  surest  of  Heaven  stay 
here  to  the  last  possible  moment,  even  though  their 
lives  in  this  world  be  miserable.    Does  not  this  show 
that  belief  in  post-mortem  life  is  a  convention,  a 
dream-wish?    If  we  were  told  of  a  new  continent  ot 
fabulous  wealth  and  charm,  and  believed  it  all,  we 
should  go  to  it  by  individuals,  families,  tribes,  and 
leave  fatherlands  untenanted,  although  we  had  to 
brave  dark  and  tempestuous  seas  to  get  there.    We 
should  not  ritually  pray  against  a  sudden  transit,  or 
be  called  fanatics  if  we  voluntarily  crossed  the  tide 
because  the  old  world  had  become  intolerably  hard 

for  us."  ^^  .        , 

Indifference  to  Immortality,—  If  the  number  ot 
persons  disinclined  to  an  eternal  future  existence  is 
considerable,  those  who  are  simply  indifferent  or 
nearly  so  are  legion.  Every  one  may  find  about  him 
many  belonging  to  this  category.  Most  of  these  will 
add,  *'  But  my  friends  and  neighbors  could  not  get 

-  Schiller's  figures   could  be   supported  by   a   long   array 

whethefin  Ton  e  way  it  may  be  resolved  into  the  infinite 
rnirif  I    "ke  to  think  of  both  these  possibilities,  and  a  third 
v?z     that  the  influence  of  one's  life  will  continue  to  affect 
fiture  generations  of  mankind." -Scott :!oe.cif.  _ 

"a  «;tanlev  Hall:  "  Thanatopsis  and  Immortality  ; 
Amef.jflfPsy.7wi5;  Vol.  XXVI;  pages  579,  580,  abbre- 
viated. 


304  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

along  without  it."  And  these  friends  and  neighbors, 
probably  indifferent  also,  take  a  similar  care  not  to 
unsettle  others  in  the  belief  they  are  supposed  to 
cherish.  Thus,  overgrown  beliefs  enjoy  an  existence 
largely  fictitious. 

I  have  already  given  the  percentage  of  those  who 
in  my  statistical  investigation  declare  themselves  in- 
different to  another  life.  From  other  sources  I 
glean  the  following  instances : — 

A  man  who  at  twenty-two  was  at  the  point  of 
death  from  disease,  reports  his  sadness  at  the  pros- 
pect of  leaving  this  world.  Fear  disturbed  him  very 
little.  He  said,  *'  I  want  to  live  long  enough  to  do 
something  in  the  world,  but  if  Providence  vetoes  that 
wish  —  *  Let  'er  go,  Gallagher.'  "  The  flippancy  of 
his  attitude  surprised  and  shocked  him.  Despite 
this  experience  of  nearness  to  death,  he  '*  never  could 
get  up  interest  enough  in  the  future  world  to  seek 
for  more  knowledge."  " 

A  Methodist,  twenty  years  old,  writes : — 

**  The  problem  of  immortality  has  caused  me  no 
uneasiness.  I  feel  that  if  I  get  through  this  life  I 
will  be  doing  pretty  well.  And  so  I  let  God  take 
care  of  the  future.  If  I  deserve  eternal  life,  He  be- 
ing a  just  God,  as  I  believe  He  is,  will  take  care  of 
the  future,  and  give  eternal  life."  '* 

These  instances  taken  from  the  experience  of  per- 
sons of  ordinary  intelligence  can  easily  be  matched 
by  others  from  men  of  distinction,  as  was  already 
shown  in  the  discussion  of  the  statistics.    John  Stu- 


Scott.     Loc.  cit.;  page  107. 
Morse  and  Allen:  Doc.  cit. 


WHAT  IS  THEIR  UTILITY?  305 

art  Mill  did  not  feel  a  craving  for  an  endless  exist- 
ence; and  it  seemed  to  him  ''  not  only  possible  but 
probable  that  in  a  higher,  and,  above  all,  a  happier 
condition  of  human  life,  not  annihilation  but  im- 
mortality "  might  be  ''the  burdensome  idea 
In  the  preface  to  Body  and  Mind,  the  English 
psychologist,  Wm.   McDougall,  states  his   attitude 

thus : — 

''  I  can  lay  claim  to  no  religious  convictions;  I  am 
not  aware  of  any  strong  desire  for  any  continuance 
of  my  personality  after  death;  and  I  could  accept 
with  equanimity  a  thorough-going  Materiahsm    if 
that  seemed  to  me  the  inevitable  outcome  of  a  dis- 
passionate and  critical  reflection.     Nevertheless,  I 
am  in  sympathy  with  the  religious  attitude  towards 
life-  and  I  should  welcome  the  establishment  of  sure 
empirical  foundations  for  the  belief  that  human  per- 
sonality is  not  wholly  destroyed  by  death.    For,  as 
was  said  above,  I  judge  that  this  belief  can  only  be 
kept  alive  if  a  proof  of  it,  or  at  least  a  presumption 
in  favor  of  it,  can  be  furnished  by  the  methods  of 
empirical  science."  '* 

A  lecturer  on  immortality  admits  similarly  that  he 
does  not  happen  to  have  ''  the  intense  yearning  that 
many  profess  for  an  endless  existence.  He 
writes :  — 

"  I  feel  about  a  future  life  as  one  might  feel  in  re- 
gard to  setting  forth  upon  an  untried  voyage;  for 
example,  to  some  distant  star.  So  far  as  I  have 
confidence  that  I  am  a  citizen  of  a  rational  universe, 

''  The  Utility  of  Religion,  t5„„^  iq 

-  Body  and  Mind:  New  York;  Macmillan;  1911.    Page  13. 


306  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

I  can  conceive  that  the  unknown  voyage  will  be 
worth  all  the  trouble  it  may  cost.  The  venture  stirs 
my  interest.  But  otherwise,  I  have  little  sense  oi 
clinging  to  life,  merely  in  order  to  live."  '' 

And  Renan,  utterly  skeptic  about  a  future  life, 
provides  us  with  this  bit  of  beautiful  prose :  — 

*'  My  experience  of  life  has  .  .  .  been  very  pleas- 
ant, and  I  do  not  think  that  there  are  any  human 
beings  happier  than  I  am.  I  have  a  keen  liking  for 
the  universe.  .  .  .  All  that  I  have  now  to  ask  of  the 
good  genius  who  has  so  often  guided,  advised,  and 
consoled  me  is  a  calm  and  sudden  death,  at  my  ap- 
pointed hour,  be  it  near  or  distant.  .  .  .  Suffering 
degrades,  humiliates,  and  leads  to  blasphemy.''  '' 

Immortality  as  a  Morally  Inferior  Belief. — Im- 
mortality is  not  only  abhorrent  to  many  and  unat- 
tractive to  a  much  larger  number,  but  the  desire  for 
it  is  condemned  as  morally  inferior  and  reprehensi- 
ble. This  is  a  relatively  new  phase  of  the  contro- 
versy; it  marks,  it  seems,  the  passage  from  the  de- 
fensive to  the  offensive  on  the  part  of  the  disbeliev- 
ing moralists:  the  abandonment  of  the  belief  has 
become  for  these  a  condition  of  the  attainment  of  the 
highest  moral  end.  The  insistency  of  great  moral 
and  religious  teachers,  like  Schleiermacher  and 
Tolstoi,  upon  the  evil  selfishness  of  the  desire  for 
immortality,  is  noteworthy. 

"  The  immortality  that  most  men  imagine  and 
their  longing  for  it,  seems  to  me  irreligious,  nay 


*^  C.  F.  Dole:  The  Hope  of  Immortality ;  Ingersoll  Lecture 
for  1906;  New  York;  Crowell  &  Company.     Page  61. 

^*  From  the  conclusion  to  Recollections  of  my  Youth. 


WHAT  IS  THEIR  UTILITY?  307 

quite  opposite  to  the  spirit  of  piety.  Dislike  of  the 
very  aim  of  Religion  is  the  ground  of  their  wish  to 
be  immortal.  Recall  how  Religion  earnestly  strives 
to  expand  the  sharp  cut  outlines  of  personality. 
Gradually  we  are  to  be  lost  in  the  Infinite  that  we, 
becoming  conscious  of  the  Universe,  may  as  much  as 
possible  be  one  with  it.  But  men  struggle  against 
this  aim.    They  are  anxious  about  their  personality. 

.  .  .  The  one  opportunity  that  death  gives  them  of 
transcending  it,  they  are  very  far  from  wishing  to 
embrace.  On  the  contrary,  they  are  concerned  as 
to  how  they  are  to  carry  it  with  them  beyond  this 
life.  .  .  .  Would  they  but  attempt  to  surrender  their 
lives  from  love  of  God!  Would  they  but  strive  to 
annihilate  their  personality  to  live  in  the  One  and 
in  the  AllI"^' 

Tolstoi  was  equally  convinced  with  Scheiermacher 
of  the  desirability,  nay,  the  duty  for  a  Christian  to 
renounce  the  wish  for  immortality.  He  did  not  ad- 
mit that  Christ  had  taught  that  belief :  — 

"  As  opposed  to  the  personal  life,  Jesus  taught  us, 
not  a  life  beyond  the  grave,  but  that  universal  life 
which  comprises  within  itself  the  life  of  humanity, 
past,  present,  and  to  come.  .  .  .  The  entire  doctrine 
of  Jesus  inculcates  renunciation  of  the  personal,  im- 
aginary life,  and  a  merging  of  this  personal  life  in 
the  universal  life  of  humanity,  in  the  life  of  the  son 
of  man.  Now  the  doctrine  of  the  individual  immor- 
tality of  the  soul  does  not  impel  us  to  renounce  the 


^'Speeches  on  Religion;   Second  speech;   Tr.  by  John  Or' 
man:  London:  1893.     Pages  99-101. 


S68  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

personal  life ;  on  the  contrary,  it  affirms  the  continu- 
ance of  individuals  forever."  '" 

From  certain  members  of  the  Ethical  Culture  So- 
cieties come  similar  utterances : — 

"  We  no  longer  need  to  believe  that  we  shall  rise 
again,  either  with  or  without  our  bodies.  We  never 
should  have  needed  it,  had  our  insight  into  the  mean- 
ing and  bearings  of  the  good  life  been  clear  and  pen- 
etrating. The  modern  recognition  that  moral  faith 
does  not  need  the  belief  in  a  life  after  death  is  one  of 
the  greatest  achievements  which  the  human  spirit 
has  ever  made.  It  is  a  discovery  in  the  very  spirit  of 
the  New  Testament,  that  enthusiasm  for  holiness  is 
not  essentially  dependent  upon  belief  in  the  survival 
either  of  the  mind  or  body  of  any  one  after  death."  '' 

Avowed  materialists  join  hands  with  idealists  in 
enthusiastic  affirmation  of  the  sufficiency  of  earthly 
life  for  the  spiritual  development  and  satisfaction  of 
man:  — 

**  It  will  be  seen  that  my  philosophy  is  thoroughly 
materialistic.  I  believe  that  man  has  been  evolved 
from  lower  forms  of  animal  life,  .  .  .  that  he  will 
continue  along  this  road  which  he  has  traveled 
through  countless  generations,  and  that  this  will 
ultimately  lead  the  race  over  the  mountain  tops  and 
into  the  promised  land  of  human  perfection.  ...  I 
conceive  the  highest  duty  of  the  individual  to  con- 
tribute his  mite  to  the  betterment  of  the  whole.  Sci- 
ence teaches  that  what  the  man  thinks,  says  and  does 

'"My  Rdigion;  chapter  VIII. 

^*  Stanton  Coit:  National  Idealism  and  the  Book  of  Com- 
mon pruyer;  pages  147,  148.  See  on  page  xxx  the  view  of 
Professor  Adler,  the  founder  of  the  Ethical  Culture  Societies. 


WHAT  IS  THEIR  UTILITY?  309 

lives  after  him,  and  influences  for  good  or  ill  future 
generations.  To  me  this  is  a  higher,  nobler  and 
greater  incentive  to  righteousness  than  any  hope  of 
personal  reward  or  fear  of  punishment  in  a  future 
life.  I  believe  that  this  is  a  glorious  world,  full  of 
great  opportunities  to  the  individual,  and  of  unlim- 
ited promise  of  development  in  the  race.  Life  car- 
ries in  itself  the  highest  duties,  the  performance  of 
which  should  not  be  regarded  as  tasks  to  be  shirked 
if  possible  or  to  be  done  reluctantly,  but  to  be  car- 
ried on  with  a  spirit  of  thankfulness  that  it  has  fall- 
en to  the  lot  of  the  individual  to  be  a  participant  in 
the  great  and  glorious  work  of  contributing  to  the 
uplift  of  the  race.  To  widen  the  domain  of  knowl- 
edge, be  it  ever  so  little,  to  abate  disease,  to  lessen 
pain  and  suffering,  to  decrease  the  burden  of  pov- 
erty, to  brighten  and  ennoble  the  lives  of  others  .  .  . 
these  are  some  of  the  things  that  science  has  done 
and  is  doing.  To  be  even  an  humble  and  un- 
known worker  in  the  great  army  of  men  who  are 
doing  these  things  is  a  privilege  which  should  make 
glad  the  heart  of  any  man."  " 

The  poets  also,  dreamers  of  beautiful  dreams,  find 
on  earth  what  only  heaven  was  thought  to  offer :  — 

"  O,  may  I  join  the  choir  invisible 
Of  those  immortal  dead  who  live  again 
In  minds  made  better  by  their  presence:  live 
In  pulses  stirred  to  generosity, 
In  deeds  of  daring  rectitude,  in  scorn 
For  miserable  aims  that  end  with  self, 
In  thoughts  sublime  that  pierce  the  night  like  stars, 
And  with  their  mild  persistence  urge  man's  search 
To  vaster  issues."  "' 


"Victor    C.    Vaughan:    "The    Philosophy    of    Science"; 
Science;  1912;  Vol.  XXXVI,  page  233. 


810  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

The  cry  of  fear  at  the  disaster  supposed  to  impend 
from  the  loss  of  the  belief  in  immortality  will  find 
little  echo  in  those  who  possess  the  fuller  knowledge 
of  human  nature  hinted  at  in  the  preceding  brief 
notes.  The  least  that  must  be  granted,  is,  it  seems, 
that  the  general  and  final  effect  of  the  loss  of  the 
belief  is  an  open  question,  and  that  a  gain  resulting 
from  it  is  one  of  the  possible  outcomes. 

Present  Causes  of  the  Desire  for  Immortalitij. — 
There  is  no  exact  correspondence  between  the  causes 
commonly  assigned  to  the  desire  for  immortality  and 
the  actual  facts.  The  demand  for  a  compensation 
for  the  injustice  of  this  life,  for  instance,  has  been 
vastly  magnified  by  theorists.  An  exactly  balanced 
account  is  not  what  man  requires.  Whether  we  re- 
gard this  as  praiseworthy  generosity  or  as  blame- 
worthy indifference  to  justice,  it  remains  that  the 
belief  in  immortality  is  but  rarely  prompted  or  sup- 
ported by  a  desire  that  justice  shall  be  done.  That 
that  desire  did  not  exercise  a  controlling  influence  in 
the  establishment  of  the  belief  is  evidenced  by  the 
form  of  the  orthodox  conception  itself.  Where  is  the 
mortal  who  has  deserved  an  eternity  of  happiness  or 
of  torments?  No  evil  doing,  even  though  prolonged 
throughout  a  lifetime,  can  be  fairly  punished  by 
endless  suffering.  We  are  apparently  ready  to  treat 
with  the  Universe  on  a  freer  basis  than  exact  retri- 
bution; it  is  happiness  rather  than  justice  that  we 
want. 

The  utility  of  immortality  as  a  "  safeguard  of 


*'  George   Eliot.     See   also   The  Earth   and  Man,   and  A 
Faith  on  Trial  of  Meredith. 


WHAT  IS  THEIR  UTILITY?  311 

morality,"  is  another  of  the  much  overstated  motives 
of  that  belief.  It  is  surprising  to  find  how  relatively 
small  is  the  influence  of  immortality  as  a  sanction  of 
right  conduct.  Should  the  reader  ask  his  friends 
what  they  think  of  this,  he  would  be  told,  probably 
by  the  majority,  that  the  belief  in  heaven  and  hell  is 
one  of  great  and  general  power  over  conduct.  But 
should  he  ask  the  more  pointed  question,  ''  Of  what 
service  is  it  to  you?"  he  would  get  information  in 
striking  contradiction  to  the  first  statement.  He 
would  hear  that  most  of  them  never,  or  only  on  rare 
occasions,  refer  to  the  consequences  of  their  actions 
upon  life  after  death;  other  considerations  guide 
them.  This  fact,  many  are  loath  to  admit  because 
of  the  prestige  of  the  orthodox  opinion. 

It  is  a  noteworthy  indication  of  the  course  of  hu- 
man development  that  the  higher  the  intellectual  and 
moral  level  attained,  the  less  does  the  influence  of 
personal  immortality  upon  conduct  make  itself  felt. 
We  have  just  seen  that  many  of  the  most  distin- 
guished moralists  condemn  the  belief  as  ethically 
wrong.  But  much  can  be  and  is  made  of  it  among 
benighted  Christian  populations. 

The  desire  for  immortality  finds  its  main  support 
neither  in  a  sense  of  justice,  nor  in  the  need  of  an 
ethical  sanction,  but  in  the  yearnings  of  the  heart  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  bonds  of  love  and  friendship, 
and  in  the  desire  to  think  highly  of  oneself  and  the 
Universe.  This  last  motive  rises  to  great  influence 
only  in  persons  of  considerable  moral  and  intellect- 
ual distinction.  It  is  the  form  assumed  by  the  innate 
tendency  to  self-preservation  and  increase  when  it 


312  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

has  undergone  the  enlarging  influence  of  philosoph- 
ical thought.  The  annihilation  of  the  priceless 
riches  which  life  represents  and,  as  it  seems  to  many, 
the  consequent  futility  and  irrationality  of  earthly 
existence  are  unbearable  thoughts.  Man  might  be- 
come reconciled  to  the  loss  at  death  of  his  personal- 
ity provided  human  life  might  still  be  regarded  as  of 
eternal  significance.  One  of  the  persons  already 
quoted  writes :  — 

"  We  do  wish  to  be  able  to  respect  the  world  we 
live  in,  and  we  could  hardly  respect  a  universe  that 
created  a  Socrates,  a  Michel  Angelo,  or  an  Epictetus 
only  to  destroy  him,  as  the  early  gods  are  reputed  to 
have  devoured  their  own  offspring. 

"  This  brings  me  frankly  to  confess  to  a  certain 
bias.  I  own  that  the  more  I  know  about  life,  the 
more  I  desire  to  discover  rationality  in  it.  I  had 
rather  be  a  citizen  for  even  a  brief  period  in  a  sig- 
nificant and  intelligent  world  than  to  live  forever  in 
a  meaningless  world.  I  had  rather  be  able  to  look 
out  for  one  day  on  the  possibilities  of  an  infinite  uni- 
verse than  to  possess  millenniums  circumscribed 
within  bounds  of  time  and  place.  I  cannot  help  this 
kind  of  bias.  It  seems  to  be  involved  in  the  nature 
of  mind.  Other  men  gladly  make  the  same  confes- 
sion. Here  is  one  of  the  facts  of  human  nature  that 
thought  has  to  reckon  with.''  '* 

Darwin  struggled  with  a  similar  difficulty :  — 

"  Believing  as  I  do  that  man  in  the  distant  future 
will  be  a  far  more  perfect  creature  than  he  now  is 

'*  C.  F.  Dole:  The  Hope  of  Immortality;  IngersoU  Lecture, 
1906.    Pages  4-9. 


WHAT  IS  THEIR  UTILITY?  313 

[because  of  the  operation  of  the  laws  of  natural  and 
sex  selection],  it  is  an  intolerable  thought  that  he 
and  all  other  sentient  beings  are  doomed  to  complete 
annihilation  after  such  long-continued  slow  prog- 
ress." " 

But  personal  immortality  is  probably  not  the  only 
possible  way  by  which  the  rationality  of  the  universe 
can  be  vindicated.  Dole  himself  would  be  content  to 
relinquish  personal  immortality  provided  the  ''  im- 
mortality of  influence  "  were  the  best  use  to  which 
he  could  be  put.  Darwin  likewise  could,  I  think,  have 
found  contentment  in  an  assurance  of  the  continua- 
tion, not  of  each  individual,  but  of  the  race  in  which 
the  progress  of  all  is  embodied.  The  passage  quoted 
was  written  under  the  impression  produced  upon 
him  by  the  affirmation  of  physicists  that  in  a  meas- 
urable time  the  sun  would  grow  too  cold  to  maintain 
life ;  and  he  was  thinking  less  of  the  living  individ- 
uals than  of  the  "  far  more  perfect  creature  "  which, 
according  to  his  theory,  nature  could  not  fail  to  pro- 
duce. 

To  Felix  Adler,  racial  continuation  would  be  in- 
sufficient ;  yet  he  also  could  be  satisfied  without  the 
persistence  of  the  conscious  self  involved  in  the 
Christian  belief.  He  finds  in  his  consciousness  the 
assurance  that  "  our  moral  ideal  is  destined  to  be 
realized,  though  we  may  not  know  how  it  will  be 
realized.'* 

"  Vast  possibilities  suggest  themselves  to  us  of  an 
order  of  existence  wholly  different  from  all  that  we 

*'  From  his  Autobiography,  as  quoted  by  his  son  in  Charles 
Darwin:  London;  1902.     Page  61, 


314  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

have  ever  known ;  what  may  be  the  nature  of  that 
other  life  it  is  impossible  to  know  and  it  is  useless 
to  speculate.  Such  terms  as  consciousness,  individ- 
uality, even  personality,  are  but  finite  screens  which 
give  no  adequate  clew  to  the  infinite  for  which  they 
stand.  Only  this  I  feel  warranted  in  holding  fast  to 
— that  the  root  of  my  selfhood,  the  best  that  is  in  me, 
my  true  and  only  being,  cannot  perish.  In  regard  to 
that  the  notion  of  death  seems  to  me  to  be  irrele- 
vant.^' " 

Our  ignorance  with  respect  to  ultimate  problems 
is  so  profound  that  we  may  not  regard  the  demand 
for  the  rationality  of  the  Universe  as  implying  une- 
quivocally a  demand  for  personal  immortality.  Of 
the  two  desires  to  which  we  have  ascribed  the  pre- 
ponderant role  in  the  maintenance  of  the  present 
belief,  only  that  for  the  continuance  of  love  and 
friendship  can  be  gratified  in  no  other  way  than  by  a 
survival  involving  continuation  of  the  sense  of  iden- 
tity. The  violence  of  this  desire  is  well  known,  yet  I 
may  quote  this  heart-rending  cry  of  a  young  wife 
recently  bereft  of  her  husband.  She  was  an  intimate 
friend  of  Schleiermacher,  and  to  him  she  turned  in 
the  hour  of  her  distress :  — 

"  0  Schleier,  in  the  midst  of  my  sorrow  there  are 
yet  blessed  moments  when  I  vividly  feel  what  a  love 
ours  was,  and  that  surely  this  love  is  eternal,  and  it 
is  impossible  that  God  can  destroy  it;  for  God  him- 
self is  love.    I  bear  this  life  while  nature  will ;  for  I 


-"Life  and  Destiny:  New  York;  McClure,  Phillips,  and 
Company;  1903.  Pages  35-39,  abbreviated.  See  for  a  more 
recent  statement,  in  An  Ethical  Philosophy  of  Life;  Apple- 
ton  and  Company,  1918.     Page  359. 


WHAT  IS  THEIR  UTILITY?  315 

have  still  work  to  do  for  the  children,  his  and  mine : 
but  0  God !  with  >vhat  longings,  what  f oreshadow- 
ings  of  unutterable  blessedness,  do  I  gaze  across  into 
that  world  where  he  lives!   What  joy  for  me  to  die! 

"  Schleier,  shall  I  not  find  him  again  ?  0  my  God ! 
I  implore  you,  Scheier,  by  all  that  is  dear  to  God 
and  sacred,  give  me,  if  you  can,  the  certain  assur- 
ance of  finding  and  knowing  him  again.  Tell  me 
your  inmost  faith  on  this,  dear  Schleier;  Oh!  if  it 
fails,  I  am  undone.  It  is  for  this  that  I  live,  for  this 
that  I  submissively  and  quietly  endure :  this  is  the 
only  outlook  that  sheds  a  light  on  my  dark  life, —  to 
find  him  again,  to  live  for  him  again.  0  God!  he 
cannot  be  destroyed!  "  " 

To  this  appeal  the  great  interpreter  of  religion  to 
whom,  more  perhaps  than  to  any  one  else,  contem- 
porary theolog\^  has  looked  for  guidance,  could  not 
give  the  longed  for  answer. 

There  is,  I  believe,  no  other  so  frequent  cause  of 
an  effective  belief  in  immortality  as  the  loss  by  death 
of  a  loved  person.  But  the  desire  for  the  continua- 
tion of  those  we  love  is,  in  itself,  in  no  way  a  guar- 
antee of  its  realization.  It  is  only  when  the  exist- 
ence of  a  purposive,  benevolent  Creator  is  assumed 
that  it  can  be  argued  with  some  degree  of  assurance 
that  the  presence  of  this  desire  implies  its  gratifica- 
tion. Again  here,  however,  that  which  to  our  lim- 
ited vision  seems  necessary  may  not  be  so. 

The  fundamental  illogicalness  of  man  is  well 
shown  in  the  east  with  which  even  men  of  culture 


'^  From  Schleiermacher's  Leben,  as  quoted  by  James  Mar- 
tineau  in  A  Study  of  Religion;  Vol.  II,  page  337. 


316  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

pass  directly  from  the  desire  to  the  belief.  I  have 
already  had  occasion,  when  dealing  with  the  origin 
of  the  modern  conception,  to  mention  the  striking 
effect  upon  Cicero  of  the  death  of  his  beloved  and 
only  daughter.  Here  are  a  few  instances,  taken 
from  among  our  contemporaries,  of  the  direct  influ- 
ence of  feeling  upon  belief :  — 

''  My  beliefs  in  the  future  life  and  in  recognition 
after  death  have  been  strengthened  by  the  death  of 
my  little  boy ;  I  know  that  this  is  no  intellectual  evi- 
dence, but  it  is  evidence  that  any  heart  will  weigh 
before  rejecting;  ...  I  see  no  reason  why  my  love 
for  my  dead  boy,  and  my  desire  to  be  reunited  to 
him  may  not  postulate  the  very  existence  of  the  ob- 
jects towards  which  they  are  directed.'* 

"  During  the  funeral  of  my  father,  I  felt  for  the 
first  time  a  certainty  of  meeting  him  again;  about 
seventeen  the  question  of  immortality  was  a  favorite 
subject  of  reflection  and  reading;  I  became  more  and 
more  satisfied  that  there  was  a  life  beyond,  although 
nobody  could  demonstrate  it ;  this  was  a  spiritual  but 
visualized  existence ;  I  saw  myself  with  dear  friends 
and  with  the  great  and  good  of  all  ages ;  wondered  if 
Socrates  and  Homer  would  care  enough  for  me  to 
allow  me  to  be  near  them.  The  death  of  a  near 
friend  a  year  ago  has  profoundly  affected  my  life ;  it 
seems  as  if  a  part  of  myself  is  gone  and  that  I  shall 
never  recover  my  wholeness  until  I  am  with  him 
again.'  *' 


"  These  last  two  quotations  are  taken  from  Scott:  Loc. 
cit.;  pages  106,  107.  They  come  from  men  aged  respectively 
31,  and  26  years, 


WHAT  IS  THEIR  UTILITY?  317 

"  When  sorrow  and  death  have  come  into  my  life, 
I  have  felt  the  necessity  of  believing  in  another 
world.  The  desire  to  make  human  love  eternal  is 
with  me  the  most  characteristically  religious  feeling. 
.  .  .  Formerly,  before  I  suffered,  I  never  experienced 
it.  My  indifference  to  the  religious  point  of  view 
was  absolute."  '' 

The  great  biologist,  Henri  Pasteur,  often  offered 
as  a  conspicuous  instance  of  the  possible  marriage  of 
science  and  faith  in  the  Christian  dogmas,  tells  in  a 
letter  to  Sainte-Beuve  and  again  in  a  speech  before 
the  Academie  de  Medecine  why  he  believes  in  immor- 
tality :  — 

"  My  philosophy  is  of  the  heart  and  not  of  the 
mind,  and  I  give  myself  up,  for  instance,  to  those 
feelings  about  eternity  which  come  naturally  at  the 
bedside  of  a  cherished  child  drawing  its  last  breath." 

"  There  are  two  men  in  each  one  of  us :  the  scien- 
tist, he  who  starts  with  a  clear  field  and  desires  to 
rise  to  the  knowledge  of  Nature  through  observation, 
experimentation,  and  reasoning;  and  the  man  of  sen- 
timent, the  man  of  belief,  the  man  who  mourns  his 
dead  children  and  who  cannot,  alas,  prove  that  he 
will  see  them  again,  but  who  believes  that  he  will, 
and  lives  in  that  hope;  .  .  .  the  man  who  feels  that 
the  force  that  is  within  him  cannot  die."  " 

I  may  remark  incidentally  upon  the  off-hand  man- 
ner in  which  Pasteur  divides  life  into  two  spheres, 
that  of  science  and  that  of  feeling,  and  apparently 
finds  no  use  for  logic  and  reason  in  the  latter.    This 


"*  From   the   Appendix   to   Lucian    Arreat's   Lc  Sentiment 
Religieux  en  France:  Paris;  Alcan;  1903. 


318  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

is  a  shocking  example  of  a  dangerous  practice  which, 
when  carried  to  its  logical  consequence,  would  per- 
mit one  to  believe  whatever  he  pleases.  When  I  at- 
tempt to  understand  this  attitude  in  a  distinguished 
man  of  science,  I  can  only  conjecture  that  he  treated 
religion  as  something  primarily  intended  to  comfort 
anyway,  anyhoiv.  So  that,  just  as  a  mother  might 
feel  free  to  say  anything  to  her  sick  child,  provided 
she  cheers  him,  so  one  may  affirm  **  religiouswise  " 
anything  it  pleases  us  to  believe. 

In  order  to  appreciate  correctly  the  influence  of 
love  and  affection  upon  the  belief  in  immortality,  one 
should  consider  not  only  the  common  intensity  of 
these  feelings  but  also  the  distressing  ease  with 
which  we  forget  and  grow  indifferent.  Love  and 
affection  for  the  dead  are,  while  they  last,  powerful 
incentives  to  belief  in  an  endless  existence;  but 
tender  feeling,  like  all  other  feelings,  is  weakened 
by  time.  When  middle  age  is  past  and  old 
age  approaches,  feelings  have  frequently  lost  too 
much  of  their  energy  to  lift  man  above  mundane  ex- 
istence. Does  not  human  frailty  permit  us  to  go 
further  and  admit,  for  instance,  that  schleier- 
macher's  friend  may  have  remarried?  In  that  oc- 
currence her  former  yearnings  for  another  life 
might  have  been  replaced  by  dread  of  the  time  when 
she  would  be  face  to  face  with  two  husbands.  This 
is  one  of  the  many  situations  which  account  for  the 
practice  upon  which  I  have  commented  of  refusing 
to  treat  heaven  realistically. 


'"  I  take  these  passages  from  E.  D.  Adams;  This  Life  and 
the  Next;  page  239. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  SOCIAL  ORIGIN  OF  MORAL  IDEAS  AND 

INSPIRATION  AND  THE  UTILITY  OF 

TRANSCENDENTAL  BELIEFS 

The  official  representatives  of  religious  systems 
are  filled  with  apprehension  at  the  thought  of  the 
possible  loss  of  the  beliefs  in  a  personal  God  and 
immortality.  Yet,  the  only  real  danger  is  created, 
I  think,  by  their  misunderstanding  of  the  origin  of 
moral  ideals  and  energy.  It  is  because  of  this  mis- 
understanding that  they  regard  the  loss  of  these  be- 
liefs as  a  calamity.  Were  their  opinion  to  be  gen- 
erally accepted,  a  fatal  feeling  of  degradation  and  of 
helplessness  would  benumb  those  who  find  them- 
selves compelled  to  relinquish  these  beliefs.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  threat  of  impending  disaster, 
although  far  from  universally  felt,  overshadows  the 
sky  of  those  among  the  orthodox  believers  who  are 
not  altogether  blind  to  the  religious  transformation 
now  in  progress,  and  it  deprives  many  doubters  of 
the  hopeful  energy'  with  which  they  would  otherwise 
meet  the  uncertainty  of  their  situation.' 

It  is,  therefore,  of  the  greatest  practical  impor- 
tance that  those  who  have  become  convinced  of  the 


^  See,  for  instance,  case  IV,  of  investigation  A,  page.  .  .  .  ; 
also,  as  an  instance  of  human  devotion  as  a  source  of  moral 
renovation  in  the  absence  of  religion,  Francis  Younghus- 
band:  Thoughts  During  Convalescence,  1914;  and  Mutual 
Influence:  a  Review  of  Religion;  1915. 

319 


320  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

absence  of  sufficient  grounds  for  these  two  beliefs 
and  of  their  apparently  unavoidable  disappearance  if 
humanity  continues  in  its  present  course,  realize  that 
morality  is  essentially  independent  of  them.  They 
must  know  with  the  clearness  that  brings  persua- 
sion that  moral  ideals  and  moral  energy  have  their 
source  in  social  life ;  that,  as  participants  in  the  life 
of  a  family  and  of  wider  social  groups,  men  draw 
directly  at  the  original  fount  of  moral  discrimina- 
tion and  inspiration. 

I  have  attempted,  after  many  others,  to  place  that 
truth  beyond  debate,  first  by  pointing  out,  in  an 
earlier  volume  how  the  god-ideas  came  into  exist- 
ence, then  by  showing  in  Part  I  of  the  present  book 
how  the  conceptions  of  immortality  arose  and  how 
man  contrived  to  use  these  ideas  in  order  to  further 
earth-born  social  and  individual  ideals.'  The  statis- 
tics of  Part  II  seem  to  support  the  proposition  which 
a  study  of  the  origin  of  morality  establishes  regard- 
ing the  relation  of  religious  belief  to  morality.  For 
there  exists  not  the  slightest  reliable  information 
permitting  the  supposition  that  in  those  statistics 
the  morally  better  men  are  those  constituting  the  be- 
lieving minority.  The  correlation,  in  every  one  of 
the  groups  investigated,  of  disbelief  with  eminence, 
can  on  the  contrary  be  made  to  lend  support  to  the 
contention  of  many  of  our  contemporaries,  admired 


'See  on  the  origin  of  moral  ideas,  L.  T.  Hothouse:  Morals 
in  Evolution;  A.  Sutherland:  The  Origin  and  Growth  of  the 
Moral  Instinct;  and  E.  A.  Westermarck:  The  Origin  and 
Development  of  the  Moral  Ideas.  Wm.  McDougall's  Social 
l'-*sychology,  and  Alexander  Shand's  The  Foundations  of  Char- 
acter are  excellent  contributions  to  the  understanding  of  the 
nature  and  development  of  character. 


WHAT  IS  THEIR  UTILITY?  321 

for  their  talents  and  venerated  for  their  devotion  to 
humanity,  that  at  present  these  beliefs  are  hin- 
drances to  spiritual  progress. 

However  that  may  be,  the  fundamental  independ- 
ence of  morality  from  the  cardinal  beliefs  of  the 
existing  religions  appears  vividly  in  the  direct  obser- 
vation of  the  moral  life,  as  it  unfolds  itself  about  us 
in  the  family  and  in  the  wider  social  groups.  Our 
alleged  essential  dependence  upon  transcendental 
beliefs  is  belied  by  the  most  common  experiences  of 
daily  life.  Who  does  not  feel  the  absurdity  of  the 
opinion  that  the  lavish  care  for  a  sick  child  by  a 
mother  is  given  because  of  a  belief  in  God  and  im- 
mortality? Are  love  of  father  and  mother  on  the 
part  of  children,  affection  and  serviceableness  be- 
tween brothers  and  sisters,  straightforwardness  and 
truthfulness  between  business  men  essentially  de- 
pendent upon  these  beliefs?  What  sort  of  person 
would  be  the  father  who  would  announce  divine 
punishment  or  reward  in  order  to  obtain  the  love 
and  respect  of  his  children  ?  And  if  there  are  busi- 
ness men  preserved  from  unrighteousness  by  the 
fear  of  future  punishment,  those  who  are  deterred 
by  the  threat  of  human  law,  are  far  more  numer- 
ous. Most  of  them  would  take  their  chances  with 
heaven  a  hundred  times  before  they  would  once  with 
society,  or  perchance  with  the  imperative  voice  of 
humanity  heard  in  the  conscience. 

On  what  do  our  political  leaders  rely  when  they 
wish  to  rouse  the  public  conscience  and  bring  about 
vital  improvements?  On  the  thought  of  God  and  im- 
mortality?    How   absurd   the  idea!     The  Hebrew 


322  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

prophets  threatened  social  and  political  calamities 
at  the  hand  of  Yahweh,  because  they  actually  be- 
lieved in  Yahweh's  government  of  Israel.  Our  po- 
litical prophets  also  threaten  national  calamities, 
but  not  at  the  hand  of  the  Christian  God,  for  we  no 
longer  really  believe  in  his  intervention.'  Yet,  our 
conviction  of  the  necessity  and  of  the  possibility  of 
moral  amendment  is  no  less  firm,  and  the  joy  of 
success  no  less  keen. 

The  heroism  of  religious  martyrs  is  often  flaunted 
as  marvelous  instances  of  the  unique  sustaining 
strength  derived  from  the  belief  in  a  personal  God 
and  in  the  anticipation  of  heaven.  And  yet,  for  every 
martyr  of  this  sort,  there  has  been  one  or  more 
heroes  who  has  risked  his  life  for  a  noble  cause, 
without  the  comfort  which  transcendental  beliefs 
may  bring.  The  very  present  offers  almost  count- 
less instances  of  martyrs  to  the  cause  of  humanity 
who  were  strangers  to  the  idea  of  God  and  immor- 
tality. How  many  men  and  women  have  in  the  past 
decade  gladly  offered  and  not  infrequently  lost  their 
lives  in  the  cause  of  freedom,  or  justice,  or  science? 


'  Of  the  sense  of  a  real,  immediate  dependence  upon  a 
personal  divinity,  there  remain  in  Christian  states  but  a  few 
pitiable  remnants.  In  the  United  States  the  most  conspicu- 
ous one  is  the  yearly  proclamation  of  a  Day  of  Thanksgiving 
by  which  the  members  of  the  nation  are  called  upon  to  return 
thanks  to  God  for  the  good  that  has  fallen  to  their  lot  and 
that  of  the  country  during  the  year.  From  an  expression  of 
genuine  belief,  this  custom  has  become  a  tradition  objection- 
able because  it  diverts  the  attention  of  man  from  those  fac- 
tors of  prosperity  which  he  can  control  to  those  he  cannot. 
It  were  better,  instead,  that  we  should  be  taught  to  realize 
our  dependence  upon  each  other  and  the  gratitude  we  owe 
to  the  millions  who  strive,  often  in  material  and  moral  dis- 
tress, in  order  to  build  our  material  and  spiritual  prosperity. 


WHAT  IS  THEIR  UTILITY  323 

In  the  monstrous  war  we  are  now  witnessing,  is 
there  a  less  heroic  defense  of  home  and  nation,  and 
less  conscious  self-renunciation  for  the  sake  of 
others  among  the  non-believers  than  among  the  pro- 
fessed Christians?  Have  modern  Christian  nations 
shown  a  more  intense  or  a  purer  patriotism  than 
ancient  Greek  or  Rome  where  men  did  not  pretend 
to  derive  inspiration  for  their  deeds  of  devotion  in 
the  thought  of  their  gods?  Cicero,  mediocre  though 
he  was  in  point  of  private  virtue,  expected  of  every 
man,  at  the  call  of  country,  the  sacrifice  of  life  and 
reputation. 

Nothing  could  be  more  evident  than  that  the  ap- 
proval of  God  and  the  assurance  of  eternal  happi- 
ness are  not  original  motives  for  the  generosity  with 
which  man  offers  up  his  life.  The  fruitful  deeds  of 
heroism  are  at  bottom  inspired  not  by  the  thought  of 
God  and  of  a  future  life,  but  by  innate  tendencies  or 
promptings  that  have  reference  to  humanity.  Self- 
sacrifice,  generosity,  is  rooted  in  nothing  less  super- 
ficial and  accidental  than  social  instincts  older  than 
the  human  race,  for  they  are  already  present  in  a 
rudimentary  form  in  the  higher  animals." 

When  it  is  granted,  as  it  must  be,  that  the  knowl- 
edge and  the  practice  of  the  virtues  do  not  have  their 
original  source  in  transcendental  beliefs,  it  may  still 
be  claimed  that  as  mere  auxiliaries  to  the  moral  life 
the  beliefs  in  God  and  immortality  cannot  be  dis- 


*  Among  recent  instances  of  the  manifestation  of  these 
social  instincts,  stand  out  the  devotion  of  the  physicians  and 
nurses  of  the  Red  Cross  in  Servia,  many  of  whom  lost  their 
lives  in  heroic  efforts  to  save  that  unhappy  country  from 
decimating  diseases. 


324  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

pensed  with  without  grave  prejudice  to  humanity; 
that  we  cannot  with  impunity  go  counter  to  these 
manifestations  of  the  empirical  wisdom  of  mankind. 

What  then,  in  the  most  civilized  Christian  nations, 
is  the  value  of  these  beliefs?  In  answer  to  this 
query  I  can  do  no  more  than  add  certain  brief  con- 
siderations to  the  cumulative  significance  of  the  facts 
brought  forward  in  the  preceding  pages.  It  is  now 
generally  admitted  that  one  cannot  moralize  by  ex- 
ternal compulsion.  Preventing  a  man  from  commit- 
ting murder  by  mere  fear  of  the  gallows  or  a  child 
from  lying  by  mere  threat  of  punishment,  serves  a 
purpose,  but  that  purpose  is  not  their  moral  im- 
provement. No  more  can  anyone  be  made  generous 
by  being  compelled  or  enticed  to  open  his  purse.  In 
order  to  do  more  than  prevent  murder  and  theft, 
more  than  secure  money  for  the  poor,  the  murderer 
and  the  child  must  be  made  to  realize  the  wickedness 
of  their  desires,  and  in  the  heart  of  the  giver  must 
be  awakened  true  charity. 

In  so  far  as  God  and  immortality  stand  for  ex- 
ternal reward  and  punishment,  they  have,  it  will  be 
agreed,  no  truly  moralizing  value ;  they  may  merely 
prevent  some  evil  and  compel  som.e  good.  But  even 
in  this  respect,  the  social  sanctions  are,  in  the  great 
majority  of  instances,  much  more  effective  than  the 
divine.  By  social  sanctions  we  should  not,  of  course, 
think  merely  of  the  law,  but  also  of  the  enormous 
restraining  and  encouraging  influences  exerted  by 
friends,  family,  and  public  opinion.  Every  one 
realizes  what  a  catastrophe  would  follow  the  re- 
moval of  these  social  restraints  even  though  God  and 


WHAT  IS  THEIR  UTILITY?  325 

immortality  should  continue  to  exert  the  attenuated 
influence  remaining  to  them. 

But,  it  is  urged,  the  ideas  of  God  and  immortality 
do  not  act  merely  as  external  checks  and  encourage- 
ments. When  God  is  an  object  of  reverence  and 
love,  the  desire  to  make  his  will  one's  own  gives  to 
the  belief  a  truly  moralizing  power.  True  as  this 
remark  is,  its  real  import  appears  only  when  we 
know  how  we  become  acquainted  with,  and  learn  to 
value  the  perfections  that  are  in  God.  There  is  no 
simpler  nor  better  statement  of  the  origin  of  the  love 
of  God  than  the  well  known  Biblical  passage,  *'  If  a 
man  say,  I  love  God,  and  hateth  his  brother,  he  is 
a  liar;  for  he  that  loveth  not  his  brother  whom  he 
hath  seen,  how  can  he  love  God  whom  he  hath  not 
seen."  In  the  education  of  the  young,  as  well  as  in 
the  reformation  of  the  warped  adult,  the  truth  of 
this  is  ever  seen  anew.  It  is  love  of  man  that  con- 
vinces child  and  hardened  sinner  alike  of  the  love 
of  God. 

We  are  now,  fortunately,  almost  done  with  the 
absurd  tradition  that  formal  religion  is  the  essen- 
tial means  of  moral  education.  We  have  discovered 
and  are  confirming  daily  that  success  in  moral  edu- 
cation depends  essentially  upon  the  measure  in  which 
one  is  able  to  replace  artificial  or  distant  reward  and 
punishment  by  the  natural  consequences,  or  by  the 
clear  realization  of  the  natural  consequences  of  ac- 
tion ;  and  upon  the  measure  in  which  freedom  can  be 
granted,  in  surroundings  offering  the  richest  pos- 
sible opportunity  for  the  discovery  and  appreciation 
of  the  significance  of  conduct.    Belief  in  transcen- 


326  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

dental  objects,  bearers  of  perfection,  is  of  no  greater 
value  in  artistic  education  than  in  ethical  culture; 
it  is  in  the  contemplation  of  beautiful  objects  present 
to  the  senses  that  we  learn  to  know  and  love  the 
beautiful,  and  in  the  presence  of  noble  characters 
and  fine  conduct  that  we  learn  to  know  and  love  the 
good/ 

Those  who  exaggerate  the  usefulness  of  the  beliefs 
in  immortality  and  in  God,  conceived  as  the  perfect 
embodiment  of  all  the  values  discovered  on  earth, 
fail  to  realize  the  inherent  disadvantages  of  these  be- 
liefs. The  evils  they  breed  may  be  called  by  the  gen- 
eral name  of  "  otherworldliness."  It  would  be  diffi- 
cult to  evaluate  the  harm  done  to  humanity  in  the 
past  by  the  conviction  that  the  real  destination  of 
man  is  the  world  to  come.  A  sincere  belief  in  the 
Christian  God  to  whom  the  behever  is  to  be  united 
in  heaven  is  an  unavoidable  cause  of  detachment 
from  this  life.  The  instances  offered  in  contradic- 
tion, great  mystics  like  St.  Francis  of  Assisi,  or  St. 
Theresa,  who  have  displayed  an  intense  and  efficient 
activity,  do  not  at  all  prove  what  one  would  like  to 
demonstrate  by  their  example.  They  lacked  it  is  true 
neither  energy  nor  devotion,  but  the  direction  of  their 
zeal,  the  aim  they  set  before  themselves,  was  clearly 
open  to  the  objection  I  raise  against  the  influence 
of  transcendental  beliefs:  they  spent  themselves 
heroically  not  in  order  to  prepare,  like  far-sighted 
statesmen,  the  coming  of  peace  and  universal  hap- 

^  These  principles  are  the  corner  stones  of  the  educational 
system  of  the  New  Schools  (Landerziehungsheim,  Ecoles 
Nouvelles),  and  the  hope  of  the  new  management  of  reform 
institutions. 


WHAT  IS  THEIR  UTILITY?  327 

piness  on  earth,  but  to  fit  men  and  women  for  heaven 
—  the  difference  is  notable.  I  know  religious  life 
too  favorably  to  insinuate  that  those  who  preach  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven  are  enemies  of  mankind,  but  I 
think  that  on  the  whole  they  would  serve  it  better 
were  they  able  to  forget  not  only  hell  but  also  heaven. 
There  is  always  some  discrepancy  between  that 
which  is  best  for  the  God  of  the  Christian  worship 
and  life  in  heaven,  and  that  which  is  best  for  the  in- 
dividual and  society  on  earth :  one  cannot  serve  per- 
fectly man  and  the  traditional  God. 

If  in  the  Christian  church  the  evil  of  otherworld- 
liness  is  to-day  less  conspicuous  than  in  the  past, 
it  is  in  the  proportion  in  which  these  traditional 
beliefs  have  lost  their  ancient  impressiveness,  i.  e., 
in  the  proportion  in  which  the  Church  has  been 
humanized. 

I  may  add  that  the  atmosphere  of  doubt  surround- 
ing the  Christian  beliefs  with  which  we  are  con- 
cerned, coexisting  as  it  does  with  creeds  that  affirm 
their  truth  and  with  a  worship  that  implies  it,  cre- 
ates in  the  upper  intellectual  circles  of  the  Churches, 
and  more  particularly  among  professors  and  stud- 
ents of  theology,  a  situation  threatening  the  most 
precious  possession  of  teachers  and  students :  their 
intellectual  integrity. 

Those  who  continue  to  think  that  humanity  can- 
not proceed  on  its  ascending  march  unless  ultimate 
questions  are  answered  in  the  formulae  given  when 
the  world  was  in  its  childhood,  evince  an  unjustifia- 
ble lack  of  faith  in  man. 


328  GOD  AND  IMMORTALITY 

But,  we  are  asked,  How  shall  the  untenable  be- 
liefs be  replaced?  The  first  question  to  be  raised  is 
rather,  What  is  the  practical  necessity  of  replacing 
them  ?  Our  understanding,  of  life  has  now  proceeded 
far  enough  for  us  to  know  that  the  solution  of  ulti- 
mate problems  is  not  practically  necessary;  this  is 
indeed  a  fortunate  discovery.  We  should  free  our- 
selves from  the  conceited  and  false  notion  that  the 
most  important  requirement  of  existence  is  a  phi- 
losophy setting  forth  adequate  solutions  of  the  prob- 
lems of  origin  and  destiny.  The  unquenchable  crav- 
ings for  omniscience  and  moral  perfection  are 
crowning  glories  of  man,  and  nothing  is  better  worth 
cherishing;  but  the  conviction  that  we  must  know 
whence  we  come  and  whither  we  are  going,  and  that 
we  must  possess  the  assurance  of  a  complete  realiza- 
tion of  our  ideals  on  earth  or  elsewhere  in  order  to 
lead  a  contented  and  worthy  existence,  is  childish 
and  mischievous.  If  I  add  that  giving  up  the  ex- 
pectation of  perfection  will  not  materially  alter  the 
craving  for  it,  I  shall  only  be  stating  a  fact  made 
obvious  by  experience. 

On  every  hand,  in  individual  as  well  as  in  national 
life,  numberless  facts  proclaim  that  human  nature  is 
better  adapted  to  the  circumstances  of  existence 
than  to  require,  under  threat  of  dissolution,  the 
solution  of  ultimate  problems.  The  revelations  that 
come  to  man  disclose  ever  proximate  goals,  and 
each  new  step  means  a  new  revelation.  A  purpose, 
in  order  to  stir  man  to  his  depths,  need  not  be 
infinitely  great ;  he  will  risk  his  all,  or  he  will  live  in 
a  tremor  of  happy  expectation  for  a  trifle;  he  will 


WHAT  IS  THEIR  UTILITY?  329 

walk  as  well  and  perhaps  better  when,  instead  of 
aiming  to  scale  Mount  Blanc,  he  ascends  a  hill ;  two 
hundred  miles  is  as  far  to  his  eyes  as  two  hundred 
thousand.  To  have  observed  that  human  society 
generates  moral  ideals  together  with  impulses  and 
desires  to  realize  them,  is,  whatever  our  theories 
about  them,  sufficient  for  practical  life.  To  have 
gained  that  knowledge  is  to  have  secured  ground 
unshakeable  by  any  philosophy. 

Do  I  mean  that  the  discussion  of  ultimate  ques- 
tions should  be  given  up?  It  would  be  both  absurd 
and  useless  to  ask  those  who  recognize  the  presence 
in  human  society  of  spiritual  forces,  to  refrain  from 
seeking  to  know  whence  they  proceed  and  whither 
they  tend.  It  is  not  against  metaphysical  specula- 
tion in  general,  or  even  principally  against  any  par- 
ticular solution  of  ultimate  problems  that  I  contend, 
but  against  the  dangerous  conviction  that  some  par- 
ticular solution  —  and,  in  the  instance  that  has 
occupied  us,  a  solution  inherited  from  another  age 
and  demonstrably  in  disagreement  with  the  best 
thinking  of  the  times  —  is  necessary  to  the  well  be- 
ing of  humanity.  That  is  a  false  and  a  dangerous 
conviction.  He  has  a  sufficient  living  creed  who  can 
affirm  that  moral  forces  actually  come  into  existence 
in  human  society,  and  that  its  welfare  and  the  indi- 
vidual's self-approval  and  self-respect  are,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  indissolubly  bound  with  the  fulfillment  of 
the  moral  demands. 


INDEX  OF  NAMES 

Adams,  E.  D.,  177,  318.  Dall,  W.  H.,  22. 

Adler,  Felix,  313.  Darwin,  Charles,  312. 

Allen  (Morse  and ),  Dechelette,  J.,  3,  4,  6. 

181    297    304.  Delitzsch,  Friedrich,  96. 

Arreat,  Lucien,  317.  Dole,  C.  F.,  306,  312. 

Durkheim,   Emil,   7,   24, 
Bacon,  Edward  E.,  151-         30,  56-58,  75,  80. 

153. 

Bancroft,  H.  H.,  120.  Eliot,  George,  310. 

Beer,  Georg,  86.  Emerson,  Ralph  Waldo, 
Bois,'  Henri,  239.  291. 

Boissier,  Gaston,  53.  Erman,  A.,  111. 

Breasted,  J.  H.,  64,  93,  ^ 

94    11^  Feuerbach  Ludwig,  81. 

Brinton,  Daniel,  120.  Fiske,  John,  145-146. 

Brown,  Wm.  A.,  148, 170.  Flournoy,  Th.,  146. 

Budde,  Karl,  85,  113.  Fowler,  W.  Ward,  88-89. 

97,  102. 

Carter   J.  B.  84,  115.  Frazer,  J.  G.,  1,  12,  13- 
Charle's,  R.  H.,  39,  106.  14,    17-19,    20,    32-36, 

Cicero,  53,  102.  62. 

Clodd,  Edward,  55.  Frazer,  A.  C,  136. 

Codrington,   R.    H.,    12, 

Ql  Galton,  Sir  F.,  285. 

Coit,*  Stanton,  308.  Gardiner,  Alan  H.,  107. 

Courtier,  Jules,  158.  Gillen   ( and  Spen- 

Crawley,  Ernest,  53,  80.         cer),  8,  20,  54. 

331 


332 


INDEX 


Gladden,  Rev.  Washing- 
ton, 148. 
Grote,  137-138. 

Harrison,  Jane,  87. 
Hall,    G.    Stanley,    296, 

303. 
Hegel,  131. 
Hobbes,  52-53. 
Hyslop,  James,  163,  167. 

James,      William,      159, 

167-168. 
Janet,  Pierre,  299. 
Jastrow,  Morris,  38,  95, 

104. 

Kant,  Immanuel,  136. 
Kingsley,   Mary  H.,  25, 
43. 

Lang,  Andrew,  88. 
Levy-Bruhl,    16,   23,  26- 

28. 
Lodge,  Sir  Oliver,  136. 
Lotze,     Hermann,     134, 

135. 

Marti,  Karl,  89,  97. 
Martineau,  James,  139. 
Matthews,  John,  20, 


McDougall,  William,  305, 

320. 
McTaggart,  John,  148. 
Mill,   John   Stuart,   132, 

305. 
Moon,  Conard,  E.  L.,  21, 

23,  36. 
Mooney,  James,  54. 
Morse  ( and  Allen), 

181,  297,  304. 
Muller,  Max,  204. 
Munger,  Rev.  Theodore, 

150-151. 

Pasteur,  Henri,  317. 
Plato,  116,  119. 
Podmore,     Frank,     165, 

168. 
Reinach,  Salomon,  5. 
Renan,  Ernest,  307. 
Rohde,  Erwin,  86,   117- 

119,  123. 
Schiller,   F.    C.   S.,   141, 

181,  182-183,  295,  302, 

303. 
Schleiermacher,     Fried- 
rich,  306-307. 
Scott,  Colin  A.,  66,  300, 

304,  316. 
Seth,  Andrew,  132,  140. 
Spencer  ( and  Gil- 

len),  8,  20,  52,  67, 


INDEX 


333 


Spinoza,  134,  138-139. 
Swinburne,  Algernon, 

298. 
Symonds,  John  A.,  298. 

Tabrum,  Arthur  H.,  177, 

179,  180,  181. 
Theresa,  Saint,  48. 
Tolstoi,  Leo,  307. 


Turner,  George,  35. 
Tylor,  E.  B.,  46,  52. 

Vaughan,  Victor  C,  309. 

Warren,  Henry  C,  300. 
Westermarck,  E.,  40. 
Wiedemann,  A.,  65,  92. 
Wobbermin,  Georg,  150. 
Younghusband,  F.,  319. 


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